§ 60. Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will recommend that instruction in the recognition of symptoms of child abuse should be included in the training programmes for magistrates.
§ Sir K. JosephTraining for magistrates is a matter for the Lord Chancellor. I will consult with him about the hon. Member's suggestion.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will recommend that no member of any case conference on an abused child should act unilaterally, and that he should inform other members of the conference if he feels that such action is necessary;
(2) if he will request all directors of social services to seek social reports on all children admitted to hospital and suspected of being abused;
(3) if he has yet decided to set up local registers to record all cases of child abuse;
(4) if he will advise directors of social services to seek to establish liaison with 495W coroners' courts regarding inquests on the death of children;
(5) if he will establish area review committees on child abuse to act as a forum to enable full consultation between all professions concerned, to take responsibility for formulating policy and procedures, to review the work of case conferences in their area, to ensure that long-term plans are being carried out, to promote the spread of knowledge, to encourage research, to co-operate in epidemiological studies, to be in touch with review committees in adjacent areas, and to submit an annual report to the Government;
(6) if he will recommend, for every child admitted to hospital and suspected of being abused, a case conference consisting of a paediatrician, psychiatrist, nurse, social workers, health visitor, representative of any voluntary agency already involved, family doctor and police officer;
(7) if he will ask doctors and hospital authorities to report to the Director of Social Services wherever a child is twice treated in the casualty department or twice enters hospital for injuries which may be non-accidental.
§ Sir K. JosephI am grateful for all these suggestions. Many have been made before, and some are included in existing guidance. All of them are being considered for inclusion in the further guidance which, as I informed the hon. Member in my reply to his Question on 19th November, I hope to issue early in the New Year.—[Vol. 864 c.351–52.]
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will seek powers to ensure that no child under suspicion of being abused should leave hospital without the agreement of the social services;
(2) if he will seek powers to ensure that in every case of suspected child abuse the child is admitted to hospital for diagnosis.
§ Sir K. JosephI would not rule out the possibility of seeking further powers to ensure the safety and treatment of young children.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek powers to ensure psychiatric examination of all parents suspected of child abuse.
496W
§ Sir K. JosephThe Mental Health Act 1959 already provides for the compulsory admission to hospital for observation of any person who is considered to be suffering from mental disorder which warrants detention in hospital and who ought to be detained in the interests of his own health or safety or with a view to the protection of other persons. In addition, the courts have powers to obtain psychiatric reports on offenders and I do not think it would be right to seek to extend these to suspected persons.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate in what proportion of cases of child abuse known to his Department the abuse ceases after the intervention of social workers.
§ Sir K. JosephI see great difficulty in making any reliable estimate of this kind.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what steps he is taking to establish research and follow-up studies into the problems of child abuse;
(2) if he will initiate research into the effectiveness of present methods of preventing the abuse of children and of helping their parents.
§ Sir K. JosephMy Department is considering a number of proposals for research in this field with a view to establishing a co-ordinated programme. It is in close touch with research work which is already going on, and is considering with the NSPCC its proposals for more special units which, in addition to providing treatment facilities, would act as a focus for further research.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take a census of children being treated in accident and emergency departments of hospitals as a step towards determining the size of the problem of child abuse.
§ Sir K. JosephMy Department is considering this suggestion.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will estimate the number of children each year who receive non-accidental injuries; how many of them die from their injuries; and how many suffer permanent damage;
(2) if he will estimate how many children are treated each year, in hospital 497W casualty or other departments, for injuries which may be non-accidental; and if he will estimate what proportion of such children have previously been treated in hospital.
§ Sir K. JosephI regret that the information which would be needed in order to make reliable estimates is not available.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services in how many cases, where a child's death led to a prosecution of the parents for murder or manslaughter, the child was under supervision by the local authority.
§ Sir K. JosephI regret that this information is not available.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to increase the number of social workers available to assist in cases of child abuse.
§ Sir K. JosephThere is an urgent need to increase the supply of qualified social workers to meet all the functions for which local authority social services departments are responsible. The Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work, which is responsible for the promotion of professional training in social work, has announced plans for increasing the number of places on professional courses, for the United Kingdom as a whole, from about 2,600 places a year in 1971–72 to about 4,000 a year by 1975 or 1976. I am confident that the central council will be responding to public and professional concern about the care of children at risk of violence as well as to all other matters of priority requiring its attention.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children each year are put into care in the interests of their safety.
§ Sir K. JosephCentrally collected statistics do not specify the number of children coming into care in the interests of their safety.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will arrange interdepartmental consultations about the best means of establishing close collaboration between the hospital service, the 498W social services and the police for the proper management of families involved in child abuse;
(2) if he will seek to arrange interdepartmental talks to discuss the best means of a co-operative approach to the problems of child abuse.
§ Sir K. JosephMy Department is in close touch with the Home Office and the Department of Education and Science on this subject generally and consultations will take place with these Departments in preparing the further guidance I hope to issue early in the New Year.