§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many unborn children were(a) placed on the child protection register and (b) taken off the child protection register in the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will list the reasons given for (i) placing an unborn child on the child protection register and (ii) removing an unborn child from the child protection register. [19434]
§ Jacqui SmithThe number of unborn children who were placed on, and removed from, child protection registers during the years ending 31 March 1997 to 2001 are given in the table.
Registrations to and de-registrations from child protection registers, of unborn children, during the years ending 31 March 1997–01 and number of unborn children on the registers at 31 March each year England numbers of unborn children1 Year ending 31 March On the register at 31 March Registrations during the year De-registrations during the year 1997 300 600 60 1998 200 600 100 1999 300 800 60 2000 200 900 30 2001 200 1,000 70 1 Figures are rounded to the nearest 100, figures less than 100 are rounded to the nearest 10 Where inquiries under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 give rise to concern that an unborn child may be at future risk of significant harm, the social services department may need to convene an initial child protection conference prior to the child's birth. Such a conference will have the same status, and should proceed in the same way, as other initial child protection conferences, including decisions about registration on the child protection register. The involvement of midwifery services is vital in such cases.
An unborn child will be registered on the child protection register if a decision is taken at the initial child protection conference that the unborn child is at continuing risk of significant harm. The act of registration itself confers no protection on a child, and should always be accompanied by a child protection plan.
An unborn child will be de-registered from the child protection register if the child dies or it is judged that the child is no longer at continuing risk of significant harm requiring safeguarding by means of a child protection plan. De-registration will also take place if the child's family have moved permanently to another local authority area. In this case, the receiving local authority should convene a child protection conference within 15 working days of being notified of the move, only after which event may de-registration take place in respect of the original local authority's child protection register.
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