§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to put area child protection committees on a statutory footing. [86289]
§ Jacqui SmithThe joint chief inspectors' report, "Safeguarding Children", published on 14 October 2002, contains a recommendation that the Department should review the current arrangements for area child protection committees, to determine whether they should be established on a statutory basis to ensure adequate accountability, authority and funding.
The Government have welcomed the publication of this report. The Government recognise that there is still more to be done to ensure that the high standards of child protection are applied in every case. That is why they commissioned the joint chief inspectors' report. It is also why my right hon. Friends, the Secretary of State for Health and the Home Secretary, set up the statutory Inquiry, chaired by Lord Laming, into the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the death of Victoria Climbie. The issues raised by Victoria's case are wide-ranging, in terms of both policy and practice. The recommendations of the joint chief inspectors' report and those of the Victoria Climbie Inquiry will provide us with an authoritative basis for any reforms to child protection that may need to be made and if radical reform is necessary, we will implement it. The Government will respond to both reports after they have carefully considered them.