School caretakers, secretaries and dinner ladies could face prosecution and possible imprisonment for failing to report signs of child abuse or neglect under official proposals in the wake of the Savile, Rotherham and Rochdale scandals.

The government consultation had been expected to include a new legal duty on professionals such as doctors, teachers and police officers to take action in cases of child abuse or neglect but ministers are considering extending the scope far wider.

The consultation paper suggests the new duty could be applied not only to professional practitioners but also administrative and support staff as well as senior management in local authorities, the health service and police forces.

“Those in administrative or other support roles for practitioners or organisations delivering the activities outlined above could also be within scope,” says the consultation paper, published on Thursday.

“School secretaries, caterers or caretakers, for example, may be in a position to identify and take action in relation to child abuse and neglect because of the nature of their working environment,” it adds.

The consultation paper puts forward two options to replace the current criminal offences of “wilful neglect” in overhauling the current child protection system in the wake of a series of high-profile child abuse scandals.

It says the first option could be a system of mandatory reporting, which would require certified individuals and organisations to report child abuse or neglect if they knew or had reasonable cause to suspect it was taking place. Reports would be made to local authority children’s social care.

The second option would involve introducing a wider duty to act, which would require certain practitioners or organisations to take appropriate action – which could include reporting – in relation to child abuse or neglect if they knew or had reasonable cause to suspect it was taking place.

The joint Home Office and Department for Education consultation paper notes that the current referral rate in England of 54.8 per 1,000 children in 2014-15 is higher than the rate in the US (47.1 per 1,000 children in 2012-13) and Australia (37.8 per 1,000 children in 2013-14) – both of which already have mandatory reporting systems.

It says the focus of the duty to act would be broader than the mandatory reporting option and sanctions for breaches would be focused on cases where there were reckless reasons for failure to act, or because practitioners and/or organisations were indifferent to the harm, or potential harm, that might be caused. This would target individuals consciously taking a decision not to intervene or take action.

The consultation suggests the new duty could cover social workers, care assistants, housing officers, teachers and teaching assistants, nursery staff, childminders, police officers, firefighters, GPs, nurses, health visitors and midwives among others.

It suggests that sanctions could involve fines and imprisonment for individual practitioners and remedial orders and publicity orders could also be used in cases where organisations were found to have breached either duty.

“High profile cases have led to calls for specific reforms to our child protection system. In particular, the introduction of a new mandatory reporting scheme or other measures focused on taking action on child abuse and neglect have been suggested,” says a joint foreword by the Home Office minister Sarah Newton and education minister Edward Timpson.

“The issues involved are complex and the evidence for such schemes is mixed. We need to consider carefully all the available evidence and views of a range of experts, children, families, survivors and practitioners so that any changes we make to the system do deliver the best outcomes for children,” they add.



