§ Mr. Nicholas Bakerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the figures for cases of child abuse during the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will distinguish in those figures between cases involving children (a) living with their married parents, (b) of single parent families (c) living with a man and woman who were not married.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe Department maintains no central record of the number of child abuse victims. The responsibility for the protection of children from abuse lies with local authorities, and the Department has issued guidance on the records which should be kept locally.