Asked by: Glenda Jackson (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK's child protection legislation; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Professor Eileen Munro undertook a wide-ranging independent review of the child protection system in England reporting in 2011. This review looked at the system as a whole, including the adequacy of the child protection legislation. The Department for Education has since clarified the legislation through the revised statutory safeguarding guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013' so all organisations working with vulnerable children know what the law says they and others must do.
The Department will continue to monitor the current legislation and review options to strengthen the system to keep children safe.