Annex submitted by DCFS
Annex
RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS FROM HOME AFFAIRS SELECT
COMMITTEE
This Annex sets out briefly the range
of measures that this Department has already put in place and
the further work we are planning in order to make children safer
and to tackle all forms of abuse, including domestic violence
and forced marriage. It then goes on to address the specific questions
asked by the Select Committee on action to safeguard children
and young people from forced marriage and how this relates to
the local authority duty to make arrangements to establish the
identities of children not receiving a suitable education.
LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
AND RELATED
POLICY STATEMENTS
AND PLANS
The Education Act 2002 gave schools a
duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of their pupils. To
help schools meet this duty, we have issued a range of guidance
on the action schools should take where there are concerns about
children's welfare. This includes specific advice drawing their
attention to the issues of domestic violence and forced marriage,
among others. We are also clear about the importance, through
the curriculum, of helping children to understand about keeping
safe and how to ask for help.
The Children Act 2004 put in place a
much stronger framework for children's services and for safeguarding
children in particular.
This Government has created statutory
Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) to co-ordinate what
local bodies do to safeguard children and to ensure that they
are working effectively together. LSCBs draw up local procedures
for how agencies work together including education, children's
social care, and the police and these often contain specific sections
on particular types of harm to children, such as domestic violence.
Two examples are the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children
Procedures[300],
and the Pan-London Safeguarding Procedures[301],
both of which contain specific and detailed sections on forced
marriage. Derby and Derbyshire's procedures also include a section
on domestic violence, and the London Safeguarding Children Board
recently approved procedures on safeguarding children abused through
domestic violence as part of the series of supplementary procedures
to the London Child Protection Procedures. On 19 March, DCSF will
be holding our second national conference for all Local Safeguarding
Children Boards. That will be an important opportunity to share
learning and good practice and we have invited the Forced Marriage
Unit to host an exhibition stand at this event.
The Children Act 2004 also gave a range
of statutory agencies a legal duty to safeguard and promote the
welfare of children. Statutory guidance, Making arrangements
to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under section
11 of the Children Act 2004[302],
was issued in July 2005 and updated in March 2007. This is aimed
at the police, hospitals, prisons and others covered by the requirement
saying what they should do to make sure children are safe. The
guidance makes clear for example that police need to identify
vulnerable children in domestic violence cases, and that housing
authorities need to consider the safety of children when they
are offering help in domestic violence cases. We have also required
local authorities to have Lead Members and Directors who are clearly
accountable for their children's services.
The Children's Plan[303],
published on 11 December 2007, places children and young people
at the centre of everything we do so and sets out a 10 year vision
for children's services.
Staying Safe, the first ever cross-Government
strategy on safeguarding children and young people, published
last summer, was developed to raise awareness and understanding.
It sends the strong message that keeping children safe is everyone's
responsibility. We want to make sure not just that professionals
and organisations understand their responsibilities but that parents,
carers and the public—and children and young people themselves—understand
what they can do to safeguard children.
Following wide consultation and debate,
we published the Staying Safe: Action Plan[304]
in February 2008 setting out a comprehensive cross-Government
programme of work over the next three years. This includes commitments
to tackle domestic violence: implementing the National Delivery
Plan for Domestic Violence and publishing the revised Children's
Needs—Parenting Capacity (1999) report, updated from research
on the effect of parental problems on children's development.
The Staying Safe: Action Plan sets out
specific commitments to help tackle forced marriage, including
implementing the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 by
Autumn 2008, which will place Forced Marriage Unit guidelines
(including for social workers, police, education and health professionals)
on a statutory footing.
The Action Plan is underpinned by the
new Public Service Agreement to improve children and young people's
safety. This signals our commitment to keep children's safety
high on the national agenda and monitor progress.
We are also providing £30 million
over four years to the NSPCC to increase the capacity of ChildLine
and its other helplines to respond to children and to adults with
concerns about children. Where appropriate, ChildLine make referrals
on directly to the Forced Marriage Unit. Our increased funding
will mean that more young people will have someone to talk to,
listen to their concerns and put them in touch with appropriate
sources of support.
All the action we have already taken,
or are committed to take, will strengthen the system for keeping
all children and young people safe. The Committee's Enquiry is
focusing on areas where targeted action is needed. Building on
the actions set out above, the DCSF is committed to doing all
we can to improve our understanding of the issues and to engage
with local communities, and to take further action, in particular
to improve the engagement of schools and local authorities and
the collection of robust data. We will report back to Parliament
in March setting out the action we intend to take.
The remainder of this Annex addresses
the Committee's specific questions, in the order of the note supplied
by Lis Bates.
Q1. Please could we have the note offered
by the minister on the work done recently by DCFS with Government
Offices consulting schools on what information they give out on
forced marriage etc?
We sought information from 14 local authority
areas, via Government Offices (GOs), to find out what action is
being taken to address forced marriage issues in schools. These
14 areas were suggested by the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) as being
areas they believe have a high incidence of forced marriage. The
areas were:
|
| Government Office Region | Local Authority Areas
|
|
| East Midlands | Derby City, Leicester City
|
| East of England | Luton
|
| London | Tower Hamlets, Newham, Waltham Forest
|
| North East | Middlesbrough
|
| North West | Manchester, Lancashire, Blackburn with Darwen
|
| South West | Bristol
|
| West Midlands | Birmingham
|
| Yorkshire and Humber | Leeds, Bradford
|
|
GO North West also chose to offer some additional
information from Oldham. The following summarises returns, based
on the questions we put to the Government Offices:
Are schools displaying FMU posters?
Government Offices reported variable practice on the
use of the FMU poster in schools. Some areas are displaying the
posters, while others are not, for a variety of reasons:
— Schools in Oldham are displaying the poster.
— Bristol local authority is working with
its schools to make sure that posters are appropriately displayed.
— In Luton, schools and the local authority
have issued FMU cards instead, saying that they have found these
to be more discreet and effective than posters.
— In Derby most schools had not been aware
of the FMU poster, one school was displaying the poster and associated
leaflets.
— Bradford local authority has issued the
poster to its schools together with a Forced Marriage policy.
— In Birmingham, the poster has not been
displayed as schools felt that the graphics are too "hard-hitting".
— Some schools in Leeds are displaying the
posters, but others are concerned that they may offend some of
their parents.
A number of areas mentioned that they were unaware
that the poster was available and it has only been available on
request. We are proposing to work with FMU to develop materials
specifically for schools and actively distribute these before
the summer.
Do schools use other means to raise awareness, e.g through
PSHE?
Again, a mixed response was received from GOs. Some
areas have reported that the issue of forced marriage is not covered
in PSHE, while in other areas it is, with some schools using the
"Someone to watch over me" video package. Responses
also provided examples of other ways of giving out information
and raising awareness about forced marriage:
— Newham Asian Women's Project provides workshops
to be run as part of PHSE lessons and offers sessions on domestic
violence, self-harm and relationships where forced marriage is
discussed and awareness raised.
— In Middlesbrough a member of the local
authority's Ethnic Minority Service team currently delivers a
programme to Black and Asian girls on raising self-esteem and
this includes the issue of forced marriages Schools are consulted
on content and delivery of this programme.
— Luton local authority and LSCB have developed
a Domestic Abuse Education Pack which addresses the issue of forced
marriages and is aimed at PSHE lessons in schools.
— Education Bradford has issued a Forced
Marriage policy to all schools and has evidence of this being
used. It also has a named contact for schools to discuss concerns
and includes forced marriage in its two-day training programme
for named Child Protection leads.
— In Waltham Forest the Ashiana Project is
targeted at young south-east Asian women and carries out work
in schools around domestic violence including forced marriage.
— Tower Hamlets local authority include forced
marriage issues in multi-agency training on "Working with
Bangladeshi Children and Families". They also include forced
marriage in their education child protection courses and their
foundation multi-agency child protection training.
— Bristol local authority is developing an
"issues based" additional resource for schools to include
in their PSHE programmes. Forced marriage will be one of the areas
covered alongside other issues, eg rape, sexual exploitation,
violence in relationships, grooming, female genital mutilation
etc. The local authority plans to offer training to schools based
on this resource, which will also cover how to spot the signs
of forced marriage and awareness raising on how to intervene and
who to contact.
Do schools know how to spot the warning signs of forced marriage
and what to do?
The responses to this question indicate that in most
areas school staff receive training and/or information about these
issues. Responses reported the following:
— A programme of child protection training
is carried out across schools in Leicester city, which includes
training on forced marriages as a child protection issue.
— In Birmingham schools have been given information
through the Designated Person training about the issue of forced
marriage and the warnings signs to consider. Over the past two
years, the uptake of this training had been 99% of schools represented.
— In Bradford, forced marriage is covered
in the two day training for named child protection leads. Procedures
specific to forced marriages are in individual schools and the
Safeguarding Board runs specific training on the subject for schools.
— Oldham, Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen
confirm that forced marriage is included in their LSCB Safeguarding
protocols and also included in basic child protection training
for school staff.
Do schools know about the FMU and the services they offer?
GO responses indicate that in general local authorities
were unable to confirm the exact level of knowledge about the
FMU in individual schools, but felt that it was likely to vary.
In Bradford the local forced marriage policy was developed in
partnership with the Forced Marriage Unit and is reviewed every
six months, but in the majority of other areas it would appear
that more work is needed to raise awareness in schools of the
Unit and its services.
What more would schools like to see in this area in terms of
awareness-raising and/or dealing with cases? Would schools be
willing to work with FMU to develop an awareness-raising programme
for pupils and teachers about the warning signs that a child might
be taken abroad for forced marriage during the school holidays?
The GO returns indicate an appetite in schools for
further basic awareness raising and specific targeted training,
as well as more information about the resources and support available
locally and nationally for young people and professionals. For
example, Leeds have suggested that case studies, community champions
and better literature would be helpful.
Responses also indicate that school staff in all regions
would be happy to work with FMU to develop materials.
Is forced marriage included in the Local Safeguarding Children
Board's policies and procedures?
Responses from the GOs indicate that forced marriage
is included in all LSCB policies and procedures.
Examples of work on forced marriage in specific areas
provided in the GO returns include:
— Cleveland Police launched the Teeswide
helpline (November 2007) for people who were fearful or part of
a forced marriage.
— In Leicester, there is local inter-agency
guidance, previously agreed by the Area Child Protection Committee,
on forced marriage procedures. This guidance is congruent with
the National Forced Marriage Guidance, although is briefer, and
has reportedly been well received by partner agencies. A cultural
diversity officer from Leicester City Council was involved in
shaping the National Forced Marriage Guidance. In addition, forced
marriage is included in the wider response to domestic violence
and included in the LSCB Business Plan.
— Luton local authority has arranged, jointly
with schools and the police, a study day on forced marriages to
take place immediately after Easter. This will review the joint
protocol with Bedfordshire which is currently in use. Forced marriage
is to be a LSCB priority and work is being done jointly with the
FE colleges as all non-academy schools in Luton only go up to
age 16. The local authority has helped a local college (Barnfield)
to draw up a policy and given training.
— Manchester reports that it has been working
on awareness raising and developing joint responses to the issue
of forced marriage for the last three years and the Director of
Children's Services has made this a high profile issue across
agencies.
— Lancashire currently has a consultation
group looking at the Forced Marriage and Honour based violence
strategy led by the CPS and Lancashire Constabulary.
Q2. Why is DCSF unable to mandate schools to put
up certain information, especially when that information could
save lives? If you are unwilling to mandate schools, what alternatives
would you suggest to improve the current situation, whereby little
to no pressure is exerted on schools to publicise or deal with
domestic violence and forced marriage?
As autonomous establishments, schools are free to
make their own decisions about what posters to display depending
on local circumstances. However, we would encourage schools to
make these or other materials available. As exemplified in the
response to Question 1, we know that some schools have found that
other ways of raising awareness are more effective, for example,
including teaching on these issues in the curriculum, distributing
leaflets or cards, or through enabling young people to access
websites. Posters are just one mechanism that can be used to get
the message across.
We understand that, until now, the Forced Marriage
Unit materials have only been available on request. They have
also been designed as generic materials for use in a range of
settings. Our experience in other areas underlines the value of
tailoring materials to children and young people in order to maximise
their usefulness and impact. Therefore, we plan to work with the
Forced Marriage Unit to develop materials specifically for schools,
and tailored to young people, and will actively encourage schools
to use them. We will draw on what we have learned through our
recent data gathering exercise which indicates a range of different
approaches can be used to inform children and young people about
forced marriage issues and signpost them to sources of further
advice and support.
Local authorities also have a role in encouraging
schools around these issues as part of their duty under S175 of
the Education Act 2002 to make arrangements to ensure that their
functions are carried out with a view to safeguarding and promoting
the welfare of children. Local authorities have responsibilities
at a strategic, support and operational level. As part of their
support arrangements we expect local authorities to make sure
that induction training for all school staff covers safeguarding;
to provide model policies and procedures for schools on all aspects
of safeguarding; to provide advice and support for schools about
dealing with individual cases; and to make arrangements to support
staff in schools with designated lead responsibility for child
protection.
We do intend to make the forced marriage guidance
for education professionals statutory. This will be done once
it has been revised and schools and other stakeholders consulted
on the content. This commitment was set out in the Staying Safe:Action
Plan published on 5 February—to implement the Forced Marriage
(Civil Protection) Act 2007 which will place FMU guidelines, including
for education professionals (and social workers, police and health
workers), on a statutory footing.
Once the statutory guidance is issued, schools and
other educational establishments will have to have regard to the
guidance in putting in place procedures to raise awareness of
and deal with cases of forced marriage. If challenged, for example
by Ofsted, schools will need to be able to prove how they have
taken account of the guidance.
In the meantime, DCSF Ministers will reinforce good
practice in advance of statutory guidance by writing within the
next few weeks to all schools and local authorities to draw their
attention to the current guidance and materials that are available
to help them deal with this issue and to alert them to the forthcoming
consultation on statutory guidelines.
Q3. What specific guidance does DCSF give to education
authorities on tackling these issues in schools and how can they
be better engaged?
Local authorities have a statutory duty under s11
of the Children Act 2004 to ensure that their functions are discharged
with regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of
children. Local authorities also have a duty to carry out their
functions under the Education Acts, with a view to safeguarding
and promoting the welfare of children under S175 of the Education
Act 2002.
We have issued guidance to local authorities and schools
on safeguarding, and this guidance contains specific advice on
forced marriage.
Working Together to Safeguard Children[305]
issued in April 2006 sets out how organisations and individuals
should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
It is addressed to practitioners and front-line managers who have
particular responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the
welfare of children, and to senior and operational managers, in
organisations that:
— are responsible for commissioning or providing
services to children, young people, and adults who are parents/carers;
and
— have a particular responsibility for safeguarding
and promoting the welfare of children.
It includes, in paragraphs 6.17-6.19, the following
guidance on forced marriage:
"6.17 A forced marriage is a marriage conducted
without the full consent of both parties and where duress is a
factor.
6.18 In 2004 the Government's definition of domestic
violence was extended to include acts perpetrated by extended
family members as well as intimate partners. Consequently, acts
such as forced marriage and other so-called `honour crimes', which
can include abduction and homicide, can now come under the definition
of domestic violence. Many of these acts are committed against
children. The Government's Forced Marriage Unit produced guidelines,
in conjunction with children's social care and the Department
for Education and Skills, on how to identify and support young
people threatened by forced marriage. The guidelines are available
at www.adss.org.uk/publications/guidance/marriage.pdf and www.homeoffice.gov.uk/comrace/race/forcedmarriage/index.html.
6.19 If there are concerns that a child (male or
female) is in danger of a forced marriage, local agencies and
professionals should contact the Forced Marriage Unit, where experienced
caseworkers are able to offer support and guidance (www.fco.gov.uk
or 020 7008 0230).The police and children's social care should
also be contacted. All those involved should bear in mind that
mediation as a response to forced marriage can be extremely dangerous.
Refusal to go through with a forced marriage has, in the past,
been linked to so-called `honour crimes'."
Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education[306]
(2006) is our principal safeguarding guidance for schools and
other education institutions. In paragraphs 43-47 of Annex A,
this guidance says:
"43. Forced marriage is a marriage conducted
without the full consent of both parties and where duress is a
factor. It is an entirely separate issue from arranged marriage,
and the two should not be confused. Forced marriage is a human
rights abuse and falls within the Crown Prosecution Service definition
of domestic violence. Young people at risk of a forced marriage
may be experiencing emotional and/or physical abuse at home.
44. The FCO and DfES have produced practical guidance
for education professionals, `Dealing with Cases of Forced Marriage',
which is available at www.fco.gov.uk.
45. If there are concerns that a child (male or
female) is in danger of a forced marriage, schools and FE institutions
should contact the Government's Forced Marriage Unit, where experienced
caseworkers are able to offer support and guidance (www.fco.gov.uk
or 020 7008 0230). The police and children's social care should
also be contacted. All those involved should bear in mind that
mediation as a response to forced marriage can be extremely dangerous.
Refusal to go through with a forced marriage has, in the past,
been linked to so-called `honour crimes'.
46. The flow chart on page 78 is taken from Young
People and Vulnerable Adults facing Forced Marriage: Practice
Guidance for Social Workers (www.teachernet.gov.uk/childprotection/
guidance.htm) and shows the steps that are followed in dealing
with cases of forced marriage."
Local authorities are statutory partners in Local
Safeguarding Children Boards. The LSCB is the key statutory mechanism
for agreeing how the relevant organisations in each local area
will co-operate to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
in that locality, and for ensuring the effectiveness of what they
do.
Under the new performance framework outlined in the
Local Government White Paper, Local Area Agreements (LAAs) will
become the key delivery contract between central and local government
and its partners. Local authorities and their partners will have
to report back, at least annually, on their performance against
the range of 198 cross-Government outcome focussed indicators
in the new National Indicator Set (NIS). LAAs will include up
to 35 improvement targets (plus 16 DCSF statutory targets), all
drawn from the NIS. Under the new Comprehensive Area Assessment
(CAA) inspection regime, the performance of all areas against
all the measures in the National Indicator Set will be published
annually.
About a dozen of the indicators in the NIS focus on
safeguarding. At this stage in the negotiation process, it looks
likely that the indicators on repeat incidents of domestic violence
and children who have experience bullying will figure as targets
in a large number of LAAs.
Q4. Could you send the Ofsted report mentioned by
the minister on young people's attitudes
The Ofsted "TellUs" survey and a summary
of results is available at:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/portal/site/Internet/menuitem.455968b0530071c4828a0d8308c08a0c/?vgnextoid=69e46c472b6b1110VgnVCM1000003507640aRCRD
This survey asked the question "How safe or unsafe
from being hurt by other people do you feel?" The results
of this question were as follows:
|
| Very/Quite Safe | |
| Around the local area
| 74% |
| On public transport
| 68% |
| Going to and from school
| 85% |
| In school | 85%
|
| At home | 95%
|
| A bit/very unsafe |
|
| Around the local area
| 25% |
| On public transport
| 27% |
| Going to and from school
| 13% |
| In school | 14%
|
| At home | 4%
|
| Don't know | |
| Around the local area
| 2% |
| On public transport
| 5% |
| Going to and from school
| 2% |
| I n school | 1%
|
| At home | 1%
|
|
The survey did not look in detail at the reasons children
felt safe or unsafe.
Prompted by the Committee's reference to a `Sugar'
magazine survey, officials have identified several surveys and
pieces of research that gauge children's perceptions to domestic
violence and how this impacts on their peer group relationships
which may be of further interest to the Committee.
We are aware of two "Sugar" magazine surveys.
The first in 2005, "Teen Abuse", reflected young
women's experiences with abusive relationships. This survey was
conducted in partnership with the NSPCC as was a follow-up, "Pressure
Sex—the Terrifying Truth" conducted in 2005 about
young girls' experiences of being pressured into unwanted sexual
contact. This survey was linked to the NSPCC's "Don't
Hide It" campaign.
The findings of the "Sugar" magazine surveys
were also reflected in a wider research project "Domestic
violence in adolescent relationships—young people in Southwark
and their experiences with unhealthy relationships"—Nina
Schutt (2006). This project, conducted in the London Borough of
Southwark, aimed to contribute to existing knowledge and awareness
about adolescent domestic violence. It recommended that adolescent
awareness of domestic violence needed to be improved; that service
provision for workers with young people needed to incorporate
awareness of domestic violence in their work; and, that a larger
survey should be conducted to identify specific areas or schools
in Southwark that should be targeted with prevention and intervention
programmes.
The Body Shop, in partnership with Women's Aid, conducted
research as part of their "Stop Violence in the Home"
campaign (July 2007) and was aimed at uncovering children's attitude
to domestic violence and what they understand to be acceptable
in healthy relationships. The research was carried out amongst
a sample base of 1,046 children aged 12-18 years. Among the findings,
one in five teens (21%) believed it was acceptable to tell a boyfriend/girlfriend
what they should do, with the figure rising to one in four (27%)
in young men. A further one in ten thought saying sorry made it
all right after they had hurt or forced a partner to do something
against their wishes. Women's Aid described the findings as "worrying".
Research published in 2004 by the National Children's
Bureau on behalf of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation drew together
a range of research findings about children's experiences of living
with domestic violence, parental substance abuse or with parental
health problems. The findings showed that children were often
more aware of problems in the household than parents realised
but did not always understand the reasons why; children in households
with domestic violence reported witnessing or experiencing violence
themselves, sometimes very extreme. Some children, particularly
boys would not talk to anyone about this and, in the main, children
tended to use informal rather than formal or professional help.
However, their most persistent plea was for more age-appropriate
information.
Two sets of research findings published in "Children
and domestic violence: a research overview of the impact on children"
(Catherine Humphreys and Audrey Mullender,1999) show particular
cause for concern about the attitudes held by boys and young men
towards domestic violence. It reviews the impact, interventions
and outcomes relating to domestic violence and children and indicates,
in particular, that "studies of populations of children and
young people reveal a worrying degree of tolerance of violence
against women, suggesting that primary prevention work in schools
and elsewhere is an important focus for change." It quotes
a survey of 2,039 14-21 year olds in Scotland and North-West England
in which almost half the young men and a third of young women
envisage circumstances where they thought it would be acceptable
for a man to hit a female partner (Burton & Kitzinger, 1998).
One in eight young men considered "nagging" as justification
for violence and one in five were tolerant of forced sex between
partners.
The second research project referred to in this
study was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council
"Children 5-16 Programme" (Mullender et al, 2000). It
asked 1,395 8-16 year olds in three contrasting areas of England
what they thought about domestic violence. At all ages, boys were
less clear than girls as to who was at fault in incidents where
a man was violent towards a woman and were more likely to excuse
the perpetrator. Boys' attitudes began to diverge from girls around
age 13; by age 15-16, 78% of girls against 56% of boys saw the
man as solely responsible for his own violence in a scenario described
to them in a questionnaire. More boys than girls at all ages believed
some women deserved to be hit and over three-quarters of 11-12
year olds boys thought that women got hit if they made men angry.
Q5. What is the current consultation underway of
the Children's Plan, when is this expected to conclude, and what
do you expect the outcomes to be in relation specifically on DV
and FM?
The Children's Plan was published in December 2007
following a national consultation. It sets out plans for the next
10 years under each of the Department for Children, Schools and
Families' strategic objectives.
One announcement in the Children's Plan was our intention
to review the delivery of sex and relationships education (SRE)
in schools. The external steering group appointed to oversee the
review met for the first time on 4 March 2008. Following a further
meeting in May, the expectation is that the group will have its
final meeting in July, at which it will finalise its recommendations
on how best to improve the delivery of SRE in schools.
The review will consider:
— how schools can best utilise external professionals
to support the delivery of SRE in the classroom;
— how the SRE provided by schools can reflect
the views of and complement and support the role of parents; and
— the role of schools in referring young
people to specialist advice and support.
Q6. What specific mandatory training do teachers
receive in domestic violence—does it include how to pick
up the signs of domestic abuse, and what options do they have
for referral if they suspect abuse?
All teachers must meet professional standards as set
out in the Training and Development Agency's "Professional
Standards for Teachers". The standards clarify the professional
characteristics that a teacher should be expected to maintain
and to build on at their current career stage. After the induction
year, therefore, teachers would be expected to continue to meet
the core standards and to broaden and deepen their professional
attributes, knowledge, understanding and skills within that context.
To be recommended for Qualified Teacher Status, the
standards include Q21 which says:
"(a) Be aware of the current legal requirements,
national policies and guidance on the safeguarding and promotion
of the well-being of children and young people.
(b) Know how to identify and support children and
young people whose progress, development or well-being is affected
by changes or difficulties in their personal circumstances, and
when to refer them to colleagues for specialist support."
The Core standards for all qualified teachers include
the following on health and well-being:
"C22. Know the current legal requirements,
national policies and guidance on the safeguarding and promotion
of the well-being of children and young people.
C23. Know the local arrangements concerning the
safeguarding of children and young people.
C24. Know how to identify potential child abuse
or neglect and follow safeguarding procedures.
C25. Know how to identify and support children
and young people whose progress, development or well-being is
affected by changes or difficulties in their personal circumstances,
and when to refer them to colleagues for specialist support."
To pass the threshold, teachers should meet the core
standards, plus the following post-threshold standard on health
and well-being:
"P6. Have sufficient depth of knowledge and
experience to be able to give advice on the development and well-being
of children and young people."
As part of performance managements arrangements for
teachers, review meetings should consider the standards which
apply to the teacher's current career stage and those to which
they might progress, and identify what professional development
might help them develop their practice further.
The Government's inter-agency guide to safeguarding
and promoting the welfare of children, Working Together to
Safeguard Children (April 2006), states that all staff involved
in working with children should attend training in safeguarding
and promoting the welfare of children, and should have regular
updates. It is part of the role of LSCBs to ensure that training
is available.
Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education
also says that local authorities are responsible for:
ensuring that maintained schools are aware of their responsibilities
for safeguarding children; monitoring their performance; making
available appropriate training, model policies and procedures;
providing advice and support; and facilitating links and cooperation
with other agencies. Local authorities will normally extend these
functions to any non-maintained special schools in their area.
The same guidance says that Governing Bodies of maintained
schools should ensure that:
— in addition to basic child protection training
the designated person undertakes training in inter-agency working
that is provided by, or to standards agreed by, the LSCB, and
refresher training at two yearly intervals to keep his or her
knowledge and skills up to date; and
— the head teacher, and all other staff who
work with children, undertake appropriate training to equip them
to carry out their responsibilities for child protection effectively,
that is kept up to date by refresher training at three yearly
intervals, and temporary staff and volunteers who work with children
are made aware of the school's arrangements for child protection
and their responsibilities.
We are continuing to work with social partners to
deliver a new teacher professionalism in which all teachers are
engaged in ongoing professional development that reflects their
individual needs and circumstances and the school's priorities.
Funding for teachers' professional development goes directly to
schools which enables them to take decisions about what professional
development best meets their and their teachers' needs, this would
not preclude a school from choosing to pursue training on domestic
violence should this be identified as a key part of the schools
professional development.
The planned letter from DCSF Ministers to schools
and local authorities, as mentioned in the response to Q2 above,
will recommend that training on child protection, including the
issues of forced marriage and domestic violence, should be considered
when schools are planning their next INSET days.
Q7. Please could you send the full figures promised
by the minister in relation to children missing from schools as
enquired into by GOs. Could you please include:
— Figures collected by GOs in 14 areas,
and any explanation of those figures.
— A short explanation of which figures
are (as of last year) collected at a local level.
— A note on what specific action you plan
to introduce (working with FMU) to reflect these statistics at
a national level.
— Any relevant information from the school
census (specifically mentioned by the minister).
The basis of the data collection
The Education and Inspections Act 2006 put a duty
on local authorities to make arrangements to establish (so far
as it is possible to do so) the identities of children residing
in their area who are not receiving a suitable education. The
duty applies in relation to children of compulsory school age
who are not on a school roll, and who are not receiving a suitable
education otherwise than being at school (for example, at home,
privately, or in alternative provision). Statutory guidance was
issued in February 2007 to local authorities on how to undertake
the duty.[307] This
explains the duty:
"1.2.1 This document is issued under the new
section 436A (inserted before section 437 in Chapter 2, Part 6
of the Education Act 1996 (school attendance) by the Education
and Inspections Act 2006), which provides that local authorities
must have regard to statutory guidance issued by the Secretary
of State. This document provides that statutory guidance and applies
to England only. Local authorities in England must take this guidance
into account and, if they decide to depart from it, have clear
reasons for doing so.
1.2.2 The new section 436A requires all local authorities
to make arrangements to enable them to establish (so far as it
is possible to do so) the identities of children residing in their
area who are not receiving a suitable education.
1.2.3 This new section also includes the definition
that "suitable education", in relation to a child, means
efficient full-time education suitable to his age, ability and
aptitude and to any special educational needs he may have.
1.2.4 The duty applies in relation to children
of compulsory school age who are not on a school roll, and who
are not receiving a suitable education otherwise than being at
school (for example, at home, privately, or in alternative provision)."
The statutory guidance highlights the vulnerable groups
of children who could be more at risk of not receiving education
and provides questions to help local authorities identify when
police involvement could be necessary. It also provides a practical
model of process steps that will help to ensure proactive assessment
of risk factors and that all appropriate steps are taken to make
reasonable enquiries about children identified as missing from
education, and more information on this is set out below.
Some of these children will be notified to local authorities
by schools, which have a complementary statutory duty to inform
their local authority of any pupil with irregular attendance or
who has amassed 10 continuous school days of unauthorised absence.
We expect schools to take action to address the underlying causes
of the absence and involve other appropriate agencies, such
as local authority children's services and the police, particularly
when they are concerned about the safety of a pupil. The guidance
on monitoring pupils' attendance "Keeping Pupil Registers"
has references and electronic links to guidance on children missing
from education and forced marriages.
The requirement to establish the identities of children
not receiving education was not intended to feed a national data
collection. Rather it was designed to ensure that local authorities
had the right processes in place to deal with and follow up the
cases of all children in this category.
There will be more scope for a clearer national level
view of this issue when ContactPoint is in place. ContactPoint
will help local authorities discharge the new duty by recording
the place where a child is being educated, where that is known.
Where it is known that a child is being educated at home, that
would also be recorded.
Monitoring of the duty to establish the identities of children
not receiving a suitable education
The guidance makes it clear that this duty will be
monitored as part of the judgements made by Ofsted on staying
safe, where evidence is assessed on the effectiveness of services
in establishing the identity and whereabouts of all children and
young people 0-16 against the following criteria:
— there are secure procedures and monitoring
systems for ensuring that all children and young people 0-16 are
known to the health and education services;
— targeted services bring children and young
people who they support to the attention of the education department
when the children and young people are not attending education
or training; and
— there are secure arrangements for sharing
information when children and young people 0-16 move across areas,
including unknown destinations.
Figures collected by DCSF
In the context of the duty to make arrangements to
identify children not receiving a suitable education, we asked,
via Government Offices, the 14 local authorities where we had
requested information about the handling of forced marriage to
give us the current or most recent available number of children
listed as not receiving a suitable education.
The figures for children not receiving a suitable
education are made up of children that have come to the local
authority's attention in different ways—for example, some
are children who are not at school because their parents have
not yet taken up a school place; some are children being educated
at home, where the local authority is not satisfied with the standard
of the education; some are children notified to the local authority
by schools because the children have been continually absent from
school. Of the totals some may be "missing" in the sense
that they are not at their previously known address, but this
may be just because the family has moved without giving forward
contact details, and their previous school and authority have
not yet found out where they have moved to.
We received information from the following authorities
which provided total figures for children identified as not being
in receipt of a suitable education. Birmingham reported 250 children
in the category of children not receiving a suitable education
as defined in the statutory guidance. Blackburn with Darwen reported
6. Bristol reported 155. Derby reported 121. Lancashire reported
149. Leeds reported 520. Leicester reported 294. Luton reported
66. Manchester reported 385. Middlesbrough reported 23. Newham
reported 40. Tower Hamlets reported 16. Waltham Forest reported
31.
This shows a good deal of variation in the data, and
some figures may appear to be rather high. We will ask Government
Offices to follow up with local authorities the larger figures
of children reported as not receiving education. However, it is
important to be clear what these figures refer to. These are children
who are judged by the local authority to be not receiving a suitable
education. They include:
— Children who are resident in the local
area but are not presently undertaking education. These could
include children who have not yet been registered in schools on
reaching compulsory school age and children who have not gained
a place at their parents' preferred school and are being kept
away from school altogether. Local authorities should take action
on these children, including if necessary legal action, which
involves them returning to education.
— Children who are being educated at home,
where the local authority does not judge that education to be
of a sufficient standard. Here the local authority should take
action to ensure that they do receive a suitable education.
— Children who have been notified to the
local authority by schools because they have not been attending
school. These may include children who are on extended periods
of leave. It will include a number of children of families that
have moved away without giving details of their destination to
the school, and who the local authority has not yet managed to
trace to another part of the country using one of various mechanisms.
Many pupils will be on these lists temporarily and
will be removed when it is found that they have registered with
a school elsewhere.
The information supplied by local authorities also
highlighted examples of good practice, such as in Birmingham where
publicity leaflets, in English and other community languages,
have been widely distributed to partner agencies and services
to alert professionals and members of the public to children missing
education.
The Select Committee also asked about data from the
schools census. In fact this does not help us to identify numbers
of children missing and possibly at risk, because there is a constant
flow of children into and out of the state schools sector, on
which the data is based.
Action by local authorities
While there is no evidence that large numbers of children
who are not receiving a suitable education are at risk of harm,
there may of course be some children who fall into this category.
Local authorities pursue this and take action where they do have
concerns about a child, including child protection action, involvement
of the police, and involvement of the Forced Marriage Unit where
appropriate.
This is made clear in the guidance on children not
receiving a suitable education which says:
"2.3.1 Although the subject of this guidance
is about children not receiving education, there may be occasions
when a child identified as such may have been the victim of a
crime. Considering the following questions could help identify
episodes when police involvement may be necessary:
2.3.2 Have there been suspicions in the past concerning
this child and family which together with the sudden disappearance
are worrying?
2.3.3 Have there been any past concerns about the
child associating with significantly older young people or adults?
2.3.4 Was there a significant incident prior to
the child's unexplained absence?
2.3.5 Is there a good reason to believe that the
child's absence may be the result of them being the victim of
a crime? The following questions could assist a judgement:
— Is this very sudden and unexpected
behaviour?
— Has the child/young person
gone missing with their family?
— Has the child/young person
gone missing without their family?
— Is there any health, religious
or cultural reason to believe that the child/young person is at
risk of harm?
(Department for Education and Skills/Foreign Office joint
guidance on forced marriages can be found at: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/familyandcommunity/childprotection/usefulinformation/typesofabuse/forced_marriage/)
2.3.6 If the answer to any of the above questions
is yes then a referral to the police should be made—local
procedures should be followed. The appropriate Education Welfare
Service and/or local authority designated person as agreed locally
should be informed."
We asked the local authorities about the involvement
of the police in cases. The majority of local authorities reported
that the police are involved in tracking or in monitoring some
of the children concerned, and in some cases a substantial number
of referrals were reported though the returns did not give us
comprehensive data on this. We also asked about referrals to the
Forced Marriage Unit. According to the local authority information
provided to us, none of the children referred to in these returns
were currently being looked at by the Forced Marriage Unit. One
authority mentioned a very recent case of alleged forced marriage
where the young person was now being looked after—this did
not arise from the children not being in suitable education.
It is of course important to underline that the duty
on local authorities in respect of children not receiving a suitable
education potentially supports the identification of forced marriage
issues but it is not intended as the primary mechanism to identify
children who may be at risk of or be victims of forced marriage.
More reliable identifications and better referral and intervention
are more likely to come from a constant awareness by schools,
local authorities, health, police and other partners of the risk
of forced marriage and the danger signs, and through awareness
raising among children and young people themselves, building on
the good practice identified in some local areas by this exercise.
We will continue to look, with the Forced Marriage Unit, local
authorities, and schools representatives, at how we can improve
the performance of the system in this regard.
We will also continue to reiterate to local authorities
the need to act on any of the cues or indicators of possible harm
to children. We are looking at next steps in monitoring the delivery
of the duty on children not receiving education and how we might
check that there has been an effective link made with systems
for safeguarding children. Ofsted have now been asked to provide
their view of how well this new duty is being implemented. Following
advice from Ofsted, the Department will work with local authorities
to share best practice and lessons that can be learnt about putting
in place more effective mechanisms.
Q8. In how many instances have schools/education
authorities actually reported children missing?
As mentioned above, we asked the 14 local authorities
about the involvement of the police in cases. The majority of
local authorities reported that the police are involved in tracking
or in monitoring some of the children concerned, and in some cases
a substantial number of referrals were reported though the returns
did not give us comprehensive data on this.
DCSF
11 March 2008
300
http://www.derby.gov.uk/HealthSocialCare/SocialServices/ChildrenAndFamilyCare/ChildProtection/SafeguardingChildrenProcedures.htm Back
301
http://www.londonscb.gov.uk/ Back
302
http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/resources-and-practice/IG00042/ Back
303
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/publications/childrensplan/ Back
304
http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=DCSF-00151-2008& Back
305
http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/socialcare/safeguarding/ Back
306
http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/familyandcommunity/childprotection/ Back
307
Statutory guidance for local authorities in England to identify
children not receiving education (DfES, February 2007) Back
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