Child Abuse

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Thursday 17th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that any information or evidence uncovered by the inquiry panel or the review of the Home Office’s operations that should go to the police will be passed on, as, indeed, it has been in the past.

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

May I press the Home Secretary on the question of the breach of trust to which she referred earlier? She said that trust had been breached on a number of occasions. How can we prevent that from happening again? We must not lose sight of child abuse within families, and of how difficult it is to bring to public attention or prosecution.

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend has made a very important point. I think that people will have been deeply concerned, indeed shocked, to learn that the list of arrests undertaken by the National Crime Agency and forces which was announced yesterday included a number of people who had been in positions of trust—such as teachers and doctors—and whom others would naturally have assumed they could trust with their children. This is a very important issue, which is why we have a system of vetting people who will be working with children. Of course, we must also ensure that all those who employ people to work in such positions of trust are aware of their responsibilities.