§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made to implement the recommendations of the Waterhouse report; and if he will make a statement. [148601]
§ Mr. HuttonSir Ronald Waterhouse's report "Lost in Care" was published on 15 February 2000 and made a total of 72 recommendations. Nine of these recommendations were primarily matters for the National Assembly for Wales to consider. Our response to "Lost in Care", published on 29 June 2000, set out the range of action being taken in respect of the remaining 63 recommendations applying directly to England. We accepted the spirit of all 63 recommendations that applied directly to England.
The vast majority of the recommendations in "Lost in Care" were consistent with our objectives for children's social services. Many of the recommendations are being implemented through legislation including the Care Standards Act 2000, the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and the Protection of Children Act 1999. The remainder are being addressed through major policy initiatives such as the Quality Protects programme, the review of social services complaints procedures and the development of new inter-agency guidance on the handling of complex abuse investigations.