§ Lord Dormerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will provide that, in cases of child abuse where difficulty of access to the child is experienced by the social services, they will arrange for uniformed women police officers to visit the child's parents to verify the condition of the child.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Baroness Trumpington)When a social services department 381WA requires the assistance of the police in gaining access to a child who is considered to be at risk of abuse it can apply to a Justice of the Peace for a warrant to search for the child. The selection of an officer to execute a warrant of this kind is a matter for determination by the local police, who will of course bear in mind the particular circumstances of the case.