§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children's homes in England and Wales that(a) are open and (b) have closed are now under investigation for possible child abuse; and if he will make a statement. [17886]
§ Jacqui SmithInformation is not collected centrally on the number of children's homes in England that are under investigation for possible child abuse.
Although the number of children's homes in Wales that are involved in such investigations is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales, a survey carried out in 1998–99 on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Crime Committee established that 32 forces in England and Wales had been investigating claims of institutional child abuse or were doing so during 928W the period covered by the questionnaire (1 January 1998 to 30 June 1999). Many of the remaining forces stated that they had been engaged in such inquiries at other times.
A similar survey was carried out by ACPO earlier this year to which 32 forces responded. During the period covered by this survey (1997 to 2000) those 32 forces detailed 96 investigations (some of which may have involved more than one institution).