§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 25 January,Official Report, column 540, what assessment she has made of the impartiality and thoroughness of the inquiry of the area child protection committee and as to why Mr. Evans was not invited to give evidence or be interviewed.
§ Mr. YeoGovernment guidance in 'Working Together under the Children Act 1989' explains that the area child 323W protection committee review is a composite review of the reports of individual agencies, completed following reviews by those agencies to establish:
whether the agency child protection procedures have been followed;whether the case suggests that there is an urgent need to review those procedures andwhether any other action is needed within agencies.The area child protection committee does not carry out a direct inquiry and it is not normal practice for it to seek evidence from individuals for this purpose.