§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he proposes to take, in the light of the Economic and Social Research Council's report, entitled the "Physical and Mental Health of Children in Care: Research Needs", a copy of which has been sent to him; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. JacksonI have been asked to reply.
The Economic and Social Research Council has a research initiative on children in care in which the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Health and Social Security are both collaborating. The papers which make up this report were commissioned by the ESRC and were intended to review the need for research and to establish the research base for the council's initiative. As such the report is primarily for the council itself to consider but the Departments will take account of what it says in their approach to the further development of the initiative.