NSPCC ‘Stand for Children’ campaign

While I support the underlying principles behind the pledge, some elements of it may have a significant cost and given the dire state of public finances, I do not believe we should make spending commitments we may be unable to keep.

I would like to assure you, however, that the protection of children in our society is a key priority for a future Conservative Government.  We will be working across all of the departments to ensure that those who are most in need receive the help and support that they deserve.

We share the concerns of the NSPCC and other children’s organisations about the state of child protection in the UK which, despite much investment and legislation and the hard work of professionals at the sharp end, is still not working adequately. At the heart of our own proposals for making children safer is the need to free up social workers and other professionals away from bureaucracy and filling in assessments, to spend more time with the vulnerable children and families they are there to look after.

In addition, we believe that greater transparency is essential to learning the lessons when things go wrong, and to restoring public confidence in child protection. We are therefore strongly of the view that Serious Case Reviews (reports that are produced when a child is seriously harmed or killed and abuse or neglect is suspected) should be published in full, subject to appropriate anonymisation.

Unfortunately, the Government opposes these measures – which are now supported by the British Association of Social Workers, the Victoria Climbié Foundation and others – and want to keep SCRs secret. While the NSPCC has raised serious concerns about the current SCR system, it does not support full anonymised publication. It would be helpful therefore if, as a supporter of the NSPCC, you could lobby that organisation to change its stance on Serious Case Reviews, so that as many people as possible are able to study them and do everything possible to avoid a repeat of mistakes in the future, rather than maintain the culture of secrecy that has prevailed for so long.

The campaign calls on the next parliament to tackle domestic violence from a child’s point of view.  Conservatives have sought to raise this issue. As my colleague James Brokenshire MP, the Shadow Home Affairs Minister, recently said during the Committee Stage of the Crime and Security Bill; ‘we must do what we can as a society to ensure that children grow up in good, strong family environment without fear of violence and abuse.’ It is also for these reasons that Conservatives are supportive of better mental health support for school age children. The Conservative Party understand the need for therapeutic services for children who have experienced abuse and commit to reforming the way mental health services are funded so that these vital resources can be provided.

We believe that the UK can learn from New York’s example of proactive policing on domestic violence. The NYPD routinely return to households with a violent history to check on victims, and the evidence suggests that this has helped reduce re-offending. By freeing police officers from red-tape they will have the opportunity to target households with a history of violence as part of their ‘on the beat’ activities.

Making the internet safer for children has been a priority for David Cameron and the Conservative Party for some time. As he said in his speech at the 2009 Conservative Party Conference: ‘The protection of childhood innocence against premature sexualisation is something worth fighting for. Sometimes I think that our society treats adults as children and children as adults.’ You may be interested to know that David Cameron has asked the Shadow Cabinet to consider all options in pursuit of our aim of stopping the premature sexualisation and excessive commercialisation of our children.

We appreciate that there have been calls to strengthen the role of the Children’s Commissioner in England. Tim Loughton, the Shadow Children’s Minister, has said that following Sir Al Aynsley-Green’s decision to step down from the role and given that the position has been operating for five years, now would be an ideal time to review the effectiveness of the post. I think it would also be very useful to ascertain why the role of the Children’s Commissioner still has not achieved widespread recognition in the eyes of children.

If you would like any further information about any of our policies, including our policy document on ‘Child protection: back to the frontline’.