House of Commons Education Committee Children first: the child protection system in England Fourth Report of Session 2012–13 Volume II Oral and written evidence Additional written evidence is contained in Volume III, available on the Committee website at www.parliament.uk/educom Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 30 October 2012 HC 137-II Published on 13 November 2012 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £21.50 The Education Committee The Education Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Education and its associated public bodies. Membership at time Report agreed: Mr Graham Stuart MP (Conservative, Beverley & Holderness) (Chair) Neil Carmichael MP (Conservative, Stroud) Alex Cunningham MP (Labour, Stockton North) Bill Esterson MP, (Labour, Sefton Central) Pat Glass MP (Labour, North West Durham) Damian Hinds MP (Conservative, East Hampshire) Charlotte Leslie MP (Conservative, Bristol North West) Siobhain McDonagh MP (Labour, Mitcham and Morden) Ian Mearns MP (Labour, Gateshead) David Ward MP (Liberal Democrat, Bradford East) Craig Whittaker MP (Conservative, Calder Valley) Nic Dakin MP (Labour, Scunthorpe), Tessa Munt MP (Liberal Democrat, Wells) and Lisa Nandy MP (Labour, Wigan) were also members of the Committee during the inquiry. Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/education-committee Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Dr Lynn Gardner (Clerk), Geraldine Alexander (Second Clerk), Penny Crouzet (Committee Specialist), Emma Gordon (Committee Specialist), Benjamin Nicholls (Committee Specialist), Ameet Chudasama (Senior Committee Assistant), Caroline McElwee (Committee Assistant), and Paul Hampson (Committee Support Assistant) Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Education Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 6181; the Committee’s e-mail address is [email protected] Witnesses Wednesday 19 October 2011 Page Jim Gamble, former Head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP),and John Goldup, National Director, Development and Strategy, Ofsted. Ev 1 Professor Harriet Ward, Professor of Child and Family Research and Director, Centre for Child and Family Research, University of Loughborough, Professor Nina Biehal, Research Director, Children and Young People’s Social Work Team, University of York, and Dr Marion Brandon, Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Director of Post-Qualifying Programmes, University of East Anglia. Ev 11 Wednesday 2 November 2011 Theresa Lane, Headteacher, Rachel McMillan Nursery School and Children’s Centre, Deptford, Dr Richard Quirk, Named GP Safeguarding Children, NHS West Sussex, NHS East Sussex Downs and Weald, and NHS Hastings and Rother, and Emma Grove, Assistant Head, George Green’s School, Tower Hamlets. Ev 21 Sue Minto, Head of ChildLine, John Cameron, Head of NSPCC Adult Helpline and Joe Ferns, Director of Research, Development and Operations, The Samaritans. Ev 32 Wednesday 30 November 2011 Joanna Sharpen, Children and Young People’s Co-ordinator, Against Violence and Abuse (AVA), Prospera Tedam, Chair, Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA), Kathy Rowe, Chair, Karma Nirvana, and Colin Walker, Deputy Director, End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT UK). Ev 40 Judith Dennis, Policy Manager, Refugee Council, Andy McCullough, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Railway Children, Christine Lenehan, Director, Council for Disabled Children, and Mark Johnson, Founder, User Voice. Ev 51 Tuesday 13 December 2011 Martin Narey, Government Adviser on Adoption, and John Hemming MP, Founder and Chairman, Justice for Families Ev 60 Wednesday 11 January 2012 Page Phillip Noyes, Director of Strategy and Development, NSPCC, Kate Wallace, Deputy Director Policy and Research, Barnardo’s, and Enver Solomon, Policy Director, The Children’s Society. Ev 76 Wednesday 7 March 2012 Jennie Stephens, Strategic Director People, Devon County Council, Rory McCallum, Head, Child and Adult Protection, Devon County Council, Nigel Richardson, Director of Children’s Services, and Steve Walker, Deputy Director, Safeguarding, Specialist and Targeted Services, Leeds City Council. Ev 92 Sue Woolmore, Independent Chair, Wigan Safeguarding Children Board, and Chair, Independent LSCB Chairs’ Network, and Jane Held, Independent Chair, Leeds and Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board. Ev 105 Wednesday 16 May 2012 Peter Davies, Chief Executive, Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. Ev 113 Dr Shade Alu, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, and Dame Moira Gibb CBE, Chair Social Work Reform Board. Ev 122 Tuesday 22 May 2012 Professor Eileen Munro, Professor of Social Policy, London School of Economics. Ev 132 District Judge Nicholas Crichton, Family Drug and Alcohol Court, and Anthony Douglas, Chief Executive, Children and Families Courts Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). Ev 139 Monday 11 June 2012 Tim Loughton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children. Ev 148 List of printed written evidence 1 John Hemming MP, Justice for Families Ev 164 2 Karma Nirvana Ev 168 3 ECPAT UK (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) Ev 170 4 Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted)Ev 174, Ev 213 5 Loughborough University Ev 178 6 Barnardo’s Ev 179 7 Refugee Children’s Consortium Ev 184 8 Against Violence and Abuse (AVA) Ev 189, Ev 214 9 Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) Ev 191, Ev 222 10 Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Children (NSPCC) Ev 194 11 National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) Ev 197, Ev 217 12 Professor Nina Biehal, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York Ev 204 13 Railway Children Ev 205 14 Leeds City Council Ev 208 15 Devon County Council Ev 210 16 Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Ev 227 17 Children’s Society Ev 229 18 Department for Education Ev 235 19 Dr Richard Quirk, Lead GP, NHS West and East Sussex Ev 236 20 Jane Held Ev 237 List of additional written evidence (published in Volume III on the Committee’s website www.parliament.uk/educom) 1 Jim Phillips Ev w1 2 Nigel King Ev w1 3 Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB) Ev w3, Ev w262 4 Department for Education Ev w5 5 Dr Richard Quirk, Lead GP, NHS West and East Sussex Ev w6 6 Professor Susan White (University of Birmingham); Professor David Wastell (University of Nottingham); Dr Geoff Debelle (Birmingham Children’s Hospital); Dr Suzanne Smith (Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust); and Dr Chris Hall (University of Durham) Ev w8 7 Medical Protection Society (MPS) Ev w12 8 Ian Joseph Ev w13 9 Children are Unbeatable! Ev w17 10 Vanguard Consulting Ev w21 11 28 Too Many Ev w25 12 Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Ev w25 13 Florence Bellone Ev w30, Ev w257 14 Child Welfare and Research Unit, Lancaster University Ev w33 15 Family Rights Group Ev w36 16 Dr Roger Morgan OBE, Children’s Rights Director for England Ev w46 17 Dr Liz Davies, Reader in Child Protection, London Metropolitan University Ev w50 18 Centre for Family Policy and Child Welfare, London Metropolitan University Ev w54 19 Children England Ev w60 20 The Consortium of Expert Witnesses to the Family Courts Ev w63 21 The Association of Child Psychotherapists Ev w64 22 British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Ev w66 23 General Medical Council (GMC) Ev w70 24 Parents Against Injustice (PAIN) Ev w74, Ev w251 25 Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (AIMS) Ev w75, Ev w185 26 Magistrates’ Association Ev w83 27 Coram Children’s Legal Centre Ev w86 28 Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) Ev w88 29 Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisations (IKWRO) Ev w91 30 Centre for Child and Family Research, Equality Now Ev w95 31 Local Government Group Ev w98 32 Professor June Thoburn, University of East Anglia Ev w101 33 BT Ev w116 34 South Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre (SERICC) Ev w117 35 Beatbullying Ev w119 36 Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) Ev w120, Ev w199 37 ACPO lead for Children Protection and Abuse Investigation Ev w124 38 Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre Ev w128 39 IMKAAN Ev w133 40 4Children Ev w137 41 National Deaf Children Society Ev w141 42 False Allegations Support Organisation Ev w143 43 Law Society Ev w145 44 National Council for Voluntary Services (NCVYS) Ev w146 45 Office of the Children’s Commissioner Ev w150 46 Serious Organised Crime Agency Ev w154 47 Jane Ellison MP Ev w156 48 Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development (FORWARD) Ev w157 49 NHS Confederation Ev w160 50 Association of Lawyers for Children Ev w165 51 The Children’s Society Ev w167 52 Designated Professionals Network Ev w170 53 End Violence Against Women Ev w174 54 The Princess Royal Trust for Carers Ev w178 55 Shaun O’Connell Ev w181 56 Nisai Virtual Academy Ev w193 57 Advice on Individual