HC Deb 05 December 1989 vol 163 cc138-40W
Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were removed from the child abuse register in London in 1987–88.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

Information from the survey of child protection registers in the year ending 31 March 1988 is published in "Survey of Children and Young Persons on Child Protection Registers Year ended 31 March 1988". Copies are available in the Library.

The number of recorded deregistrations in Greater London in 1987–88 (excluding Greenwich and Westminster) was 2,905.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if each area covered by a social services department maintains a central register of children in the area who have been abused or are at risk from abuse.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

Yes.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will break down the £7 million which is used for training of social services staff on child abuse.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The £7 million provided for the training of local authority staff working with children has been allocated as follows: £100,000—to fund the central training group on child sexual abuse, national workshops and other development and review work; £2,140,000—flat rate allocation of £20,000 to all local authorities in England, except the City of London and Isles of Scilly, for improvements in their training infrastructure; £4,760,000—allocations to all local authorities in England based on the number of staff working with children. Details of allocations to individual local authorities have been placed in the Library.

Training programmes submitted by local authorities indicate that £4.6 million will be spent on general training and £2.3 million on training in child protection work including child sexual abuse.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce special assessment teams, composed of local authority health authority and police officials, to deal with the problem of child abuse.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

It is for the local authority, health authority and local police force jointly to consider the introduction of specialist assessment teams. The Department's guidance document "Working Together" (1988), copies of which are available in the Library, commends agencies to consider carefully the conclusions and recommendations of the report of the inquiry on child abuse in Cleveland 1987 on this issue.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will meet voluntary organisations concerned with children to discuss the setting up of a national register list of aid for children.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The Department regularly meets voluntary organisations with responsibilities in the child care field. I refer the hon. Member to my previous response to her of 15 November at column338.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what services are available to a child or family removed from the child abuse register.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

Children removed from the child protection register and their families are eligible for the full range of services provided by local authority social services departments and health authorities. Paragraph 5.29 of the Department's guidance document, "Working Together" (1988), copies of which are available in the Library, statesremoval of a child's name from the register should not lead to an automatic withdrawal or reduction in services. The risk of child abuse may have been eliminated or reduced but a variety of services may still be needed by the child and family, and in some cases the child will he in the care of the local authority either on a voluntary or compulsory basis".

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment is being made of the results of the Open university training package for training in recognition of child abuse.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

As the training pack has only been on the market since the end of March, it is too early to provide a full assessment of its impact. Sales of the training pack have been very encouraging; from the end of March 1989 to September 1989, 2,319 student packs and 620 tutor packs were sold. The training pack included an assessment module, and 1,000 students have so far registered to take part in the assessment exercise. Early results indicate that students' knowledge of child abuse is increased substantially after having completed the course.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the number of local authorities providing day nurseries, play groups, child minding, family aides, family centres and other facilities which can support and advise and aid in the prevention of child abuse within families.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

Statistical information is collected annually from each local authority about day nurseries, play groups and child minders provided by the local authority. Information is sought about the number of premises/persons, the number of places and, for day nurseries and playgroups, the numbers on the register. Information is also sought about the number of children in voluntary or private play groups or day nurseries or with child minders who are placed and paid for by the local authority. This information is published, together with some details of private and voluntary provision. The most recent publication is "Children's Day Care Facilities at 31 March 1988; England" a copy of which is available in the Library.

Details of expenditure are also collected for each authority; these details cover expenditure on family centres as well as day nurseries, playgroups and child minders.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many area child protection committees investigating child abuse there were in 1988.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

In July 1988, the Department published a guidance document, "Working Together" and an accompanying circular (LAC(88)10/HC(88)38), copies of which are available in the Library, which called for the redesignation of area review committees as area child protection committees covering one local authority area. The process of redesignation continued into 1989, and involved the reorganisation of some larger area review committees into area child protection committees which were conterminous with local authority boundaries. There are currently 108 area child protection committees.

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