HC Deb 26 June 2000 vol 352 cc363-4W
Dr. Desmond Turner

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of child abuse(a) allegations and (b) convictions there were in the five years (i) before and (ii) after the changes in court procedures following the implementation of the Children Act 1989. [127548]

Mr. Hutton

The Children Act 1989 was implemented in October 1991. However, although the Children Act 1989 changed the private and public functions of the civil law relating to the welfare of children, it did not change the criminal law in respect of offences against children.

In terms of allegations of child abuse, no statistics are available on the number of referrals to social services departments for the five-year period (1986–87 to 1990–91), prior to the implementation of the Act. However, "Child Protection: Messages from Research" (Department of Health, 1995) indicates that there are about 160,000 cases referred to social services departments per annum.

Statistics relating to convictions for offences against children, as set out in Section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, are shown in the table.

The number of persons convicted at all courts under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (Section 1), England and Wales, 1987–1996, is as follows:

Offence: Cruelty or neglect of children
Year Number
1987 143
1988 164
1989 211
1990 247
1991 234
1992 208
1993 205
1994 236
1995 302
1996 293

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