Jasmine Beckford (Report) (Hansard, 6 May 1986)

§ Mr. Fowler

The report of the inquiry which was commissioned by the London borough of Brent and the Brent health authority has many recommendations for them to follow up. I am aware of the action being taken by them. But the report also made many proposals for consideration nationally by the Government and other bodies.

The Government fully support and welcome the main themes of the report. This means that those concerned with the care of children at risk of being, abused must always put the interests of the child first. Where a child is in the care of a local authority they have a clear legal obligation to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child and in any conflict of interests between parents and child, those of the child must always come first.

These principles will be reiterated in a revised guide to authorities about the arrangements to be followed for the protection of children. We have placed great emphasis on ensuring that all staff are fully aware of the legal framework in this area and how it affects the responsibilities which they bear. It takes up a number or recommendations and concerns in the Beckford inquiry report, concentrating in particular on improving collaboration between health and local authorities. These and other bodies will be consulted about the content of the guidance. A copy of the draft guidance which aims to review and update existing advice has been placed in the Library of the House of Commons and is published today.

The Beckford report made a number of recommendations regarding the law and related court practice on child care. I announced last week that the Government intended to introduce a comprehensive Bill in child care law as soon as parliamentary time allowed. We shall be publishing a White Paper in the autumn and this will take account of 69W the proposals in the Beckford report. In addition, the Government are seeking, through the private Member's legislation of my hon. Friend the Member for Westbury (Mr. Walters) power to make regulations governing arrangements by local authorities to allow a child in care to go home on trial. The Lord Chancellor has issued a circular to justices' clerks about procedures and training of magistrates taking account of the report's recommendations.

My Social Services Inspectorate has undertaken an urgent review of assessment by, and supervision of, social workers handling child abuse cases where a child in care has been returned home. This report and recommendations are also being published today and sent to all directors of social services by the Chief Inspector of the SSI. The Chief Inspector has stressed that the critical decision to return a child home on trial must always be taken at a senior level and in accordance with an agreed plan worked out with all the agencies concerned. Copies of the report have been placed in the Library of the House of Commons. In general, the cases studied showed evidence that local authorities give high priority to child abuse work and that cases were usually handled by qualified, experienced staff. Immediate action to protect children following reports of abuse was generally satisfactory. However, the report identifies room for improvements in planning and monitoring of arrangements for their longer term protection and makes recommendations. It highlights the need for a more systematic approach to the work and to the supervision of field-workers handling these difficult and demanding cases.

The messages are broadly similar to those in the Beckford report and my SSI will be following up its recommendations with authorities. We also intend to produce a practice guide for social workers in child abuse work and we will be considering nursing and health visitor practice in child abuse cases. In addition, new guidance on the action authorities should take to review their services following deaths or other serious cases of abuse, including formal inquiries where necessary, will be issued within the next few months. The training implications of the SSI report will be examined with the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work.

The report also made recommendations about research and training. We have a continuing programme of research on child care matters and, as resources allow, will give high priority to further work on child abuse. The proposed extention of basic social work training to three years was already under consideration between CCETSW, other relevant bodies and the Government and a decision will be taken in due course. We are making £300,000 available over the next three years towards developing training and educational programmes, particularly aimed at the problem of sexual abuse of children. We have drawn to the attention of other national bodies those recommendations concerning their responsibilities.

We are grateful to Mr. Blom Cooper and his team for the careful thought their report has given towards better ways of achieving the common objective of us all-the protection of children from abuse. The Government's aim is to promote positive improvements in services wherever these are needed and we will continue to pursue this as a matter of urgency.