§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the policy pursued by his Department towards parents abused by their own children; [76889]
(2) what discussions his Department has had with groups representing parents who have been abused by their children. [76888]
765W
§ Jacqui SmithI have been asked to reply.
Incidents of abuse are of huge concern to the Government no matter what the source. As a civilised society we must have the determination to confront abuse wherever it occurs.
As part of our integrated approach to combating abuse we launched our guidance "No Secrets" on the protection of vulnerable adults in March 2000. Local authorities and other authorities had to develop their own locally based codes of practice and ensure that they were developed and implemented by 31 October 2001.
The Department has had no discussions with groups representing parents who have been abused by their children.