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26 Jan 2004 : Column 121W—continued

Child Care Strategy

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) new places have been created and (b) children have been helped under the National Child Care Strategy in the London boroughs of (i) Redbridge and (ii) Waltham Forest since April 1999; what the current year's Childcare Grant is; what is proposed for the next financial year; and if he will make a statement. [147394]

Margaret Hodge: 1,990 new child care places were created in the London borough of Redbridge between April 1999 and June 2003, helping some 3,700 children. Net of places closing, this added 1,423 places to the stock of child care places in the borough. Grant of £764,400 is available to Redbridge in financial year 2003–04 to support the creation of new places. Grant allocations for 2004–06 are not split between the two financial years. For the two financial years together, £2,185,200 is available to Redbridge, including £1.1 million capital funding to create children's centres.

3,037 new child care places were created in the London borough of Waltham Forest between April 1999 and June 2003, helping some 5,600 children. Net of places closing, this added 2,936 places to the stock of child care places. Grant of £988,800 is available in financial year 2003–04 to support the creation of new places. For the two financial years 2004–06, £4,780,200 is available to Waltham Forest, including £3.1 million capital funding to create children's centres.

Child Poverty

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average cost was in 2002–03 of raising a child to the age of 18. [145661]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: Research on expenditure on children is made complicated by the difficulty of separately identifying child and non-child expenditure within family expenditure and the issue of children

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sharing in the wealth of their parents. There is no consensus on the factors to be included in estimating the cost of raising a child.

Academic and business research on this question highlights the complexities involved and has resulted in a large range of estimates. For example, a study commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 1997 suggested a cost of around £50,000 for 'regular' support up to the age of 17. Recent research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research for the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society suggested a much higher average cost of £140,000, which includes spending on both 'necessities' and 'luxuries'. Such results are of course not directly comparable due to the differences in the factors included and the methodology used.




Child Protection

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children resident in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Huntingdon were on the Child Protection Register on 31 December 2003. [149673]

Margaret Hodge: Information on the number of children and young people on the Child Protection Register in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Huntingdon at 31 December 2003 is not collected centrally for this date. However, information about children who are registered on child protection registers is collected centrally from local councils with social services responsibilities at 31 March each year. The most recent figure, which was for 31 March 2002, shows that there were 100 children on the register maintained by Cambridgeshire county council. Information is not collected below this organisational level.

Details of the number of children and young people on Child Protection Registers at 31 March 2003 will be published by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) on Thursday 29 January 2004.

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children resident in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Huntingdon who were on the Child Protection Register on 31 December 2003 had previously been registered. [149674]

Margaret Hodge: Information on the number of children and young people on the Child Protection Register in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Huntingdon at 31 December 2003 is not collected centrally for this date. However, information about children who are registered on child protection registers is collected centrally from local councils with social services responsibilities at 31 March each year. The most recent figure, which was for 31 March 2002, shows that there were 30 children on the Child Protection Register maintained by Cambridgeshire county council who had previously been registered. Information is not collected below this organisational level.

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Details of the number of children and young people on Child Protection Register at 31 March 2003, including details of re-registrations, will be published by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) on Thursday 29 January 2004.

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children resident in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Huntingdon who were on the Child Protection Register on 31 December 2003 were also looked after by local authorities. [149675]

Margaret Hodge: Information on the number of children and young people on the Child Protection Register in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Huntingdon at 31 December 2003 is not collected centrally for this specific date. However, information about children who are registered on child protection registers is collected centrally from local councils with social services responsibilities at 31 March each year. The most recent figure, which was for 31 March 2002, shows that there were 15 children on the Child Protection Register maintained by Cambridgeshire county council who were also looked after by local authorities on that date. Information is not collected below this organisational level.

Details of the number of children and young people on Child Protection Register at 31 March 2003, including details of those also looked after on that date, will be published by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) on Thursday 29 January 2004.

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children resident in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Huntingdon who were removed from the Child Protection Register during 2003 had been on it for more than two years. [149676]

Margaret Hodge: Information on the number of children and young people on the Child Protection Register in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Huntingdon at 31 December 2003 is not collected centrally for this date. However, information about children who are registered on child protection registers is collected centrally from local councils with social services responsibilities at 31 March each year. The most recent figure, which was for 31 March 2002, shows that 15 children were removed from the Child Protection Register maintained by Cambridgeshire county council who had been registered for more than two years. Information is not collected below this organisational level.

Details of the number of children and young people on child protection registers at 31 March 2003, including details of de-registrations, will be published by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) on Thursday 29 January 2004.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for how many quangos dealing with child protection issues his Department is responsible. [145664]

Margaret Hodge: None of the non-departmental public bodies for which the Department for Education and Skills is responsible has direct responsibility for child protection issues.

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On 12 January responsibility for the Children and Family Court Advice and Support Service (CAFCASS) was transferred from the Lord Chancellor to the Secretary of State for Education. CAFCASS is not directly responsible for child protection but part of its role is to safeguard and promote the welfare of children involved in family court proceedings.

Disabled Children

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what response his Department will make to the recommendations in the latest report from the National Working Group on Child Protection and Disability; [146292]

Margaret Hodge: We welcome the publication of the NSPCC report, "It doesn't happen to disabled children"—child protection and disabled children. We will consider the recommendations contained in the report carefully.

We recognise the particular vulnerability of disabled children to abuse, which increases when, as a result of their disability, children are unable to communicate abuse. That is why Government guidance on safeguarding children, including Working Together to Safeguard Children (1999) and Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need Practice Guidance (2000), highlights the need to promote a high level of awareness of this increased vulnerability and sets out measures that should be taken to strengthen the capacity of disabled children and their families to communicate abuse.

Both the measures outlined in the Green Paper and the forthcoming National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services will address the issue of safeguarding all children, including disabled children.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what research has been conducted on the effectiveness of the child protection system in addressing abuse of disabled children; what the findings were; and what further research is planned; [146293]

Margaret Hodge: The Department for Education and Skills has not commissioned research in this area.

We recognise that there is a need to improve the research base in respect of safeguards for disabled children. We will consider the best way to take this forward.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the role of support services is in preventing abuse of disabled children. [146294]

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Margaret Hodge: Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 sets out the duties of local authorities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in need, including disabled children. Services for disabled children and their families are provided through local authorities, the health service and the voluntary sector. These services help to support families safeguard children and improve their life chances. Support services include short term breaks; day care; home help; domiciliary care; nursing and medical support; social events and outings for parents and children, as well as advice, guidance and counselling. In cases where there are concerns about possible abuse and neglect of disabled children, support services should work closely with local child protection services to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to safeguard the child.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what representations have been received from disabled children and adults in preventing abuse; and what action has been taken as a result; [146295]

Margaret Hodge: We have not had specific representations about abuse of disabled adults. However, the Department of Health liaises closely with a number of organisations who represent vulnerable adults and the Government is aware of their concerns in this area.

The abuse of vulnerable adults is of great concern to the Government. We have already instigated a range of general measures, such as the National Service Framework for Older People and National Minimum Standards for particular aspects of service provision, to raise the standards of care of older people and other vulnerable adults. It has implemented specific measures to tackle abuse, principally "No Secrets" guidance, which councils, the NHS and police forces have used to establish and strengthen their local procedures for preventing and tackling abuse. By June 2004, we intend to introduce the Protection of Vulnerable Adults list, which in practice will amount to a workforce ban on those who have abused or mistreated vulnerable adults in their care.

The Department for Education and Skills regularly receives correspondence from parents and voluntary groups about issues affecting disabled children including child protection. This has included reports from the NSPCC, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and the National Working Group on Child Protection and Disability, which have influenced policy development. In particular, recent representations from the NSPCC were taken into account by the Disabled Children's External Working Group developing standards as part of the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services which will be published later this year.

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The Joint Chief Inspectors' Report Safeguarding Children, published in October 2002, contained a recommendation that all relevant Inspectorates should ensure that, prior to the next report, appropriate inspection activity had been undertaken on children with disabilities.

Safeguarding Children asked Chief Inspectors to consider whether there was a need to supplement the planned programme of inspections in any way. In planning for the next children's safeguards review, the Inspectorates have identified that additional acitivity is required in relation to children with disabilities and special needs and are developing plans to enhance their programmes in this area.

Local mechanisms for safeguarding disabled children are set out in chapter six of the Government's child protection guidance, "Working Together to Safeguard Children (1999)".

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what resources are available to promote the safeguarding of disabled children. [146300]

Margaret Hodge: It is for local councils to decide the level of resources they allocate to the safeguarding of disabled children in their area.

Overall the local government settlement has increased resources for Children's Social Services from almost £3.7 billion in 2003–04 to just over £4.0 billion in 2004–05. This provides for an increase in total resources of some 8.7 per cent. overall.

Every council will be receiving additional resources provided for Children's Social Services as a result of the Government's decision to provide an additional £100 million. £90 million for every council for safeguarding children, enabling councils to respond to the recommendations contained in the Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report and the Joint Chief Inspectors' report "Safeguarding Children".

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in what ways the forthcoming National Service Framework will contribute to the safeguarding of disabled children's needs. [146302]

Margaret Hodge: The NSF for Children, Young People and Maternity Services will address a number of cross cutting areas including the safeguarding of children. The External Working Group for Disabled Children has looked at child protection and has made a number of recommendations. These, alongside other recommendations are currently being considered before the final NSF is published later this year.

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