§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his latest estimate of the number of unqualified officers in charge and deputy officers in charge of children's homes in England.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyA recent survey of 106 English local authorities indicated that 380 officers in charge and 926 deputy officers in charge of local authority maintained and controlled residential homes for children were not qualified to CQSW/CSS/DipSW standard.
Following the recommendation in Sir William Utting's report "Children in the Public Care", a copy of which is available in the Library, that all heads of homes should be suitably qualified, a special training initiative is being introduced from 1992–93 as a part of the training support programme to help local authorities ensure that this is achieved by 1995–96.