Professionals in England will not face charges for not passing on suspicions, government confirm

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Plans to introduce mandatory reporting by doctors, social workers and police officers of possible child sex abuse cases backed up by the threat of prosecution and imprisonment have been dropped, ministers have confirmed.



The decision followed a backlash from child protection workers over a new statutory requirement that they said would do little to protect children and risked diverting attention away from the most serious cases, hampering professional judgment and jeopardising vital relationships between social workers and vulnerable families.

The proposal for a legal duty on professionals in England to report signs of child abuse or child neglect were first proposed in July 2016 in a joint Home Office/Department of Health consultation paper in the wake of the Savile, Rotherham and Rochdale scandals.

The 2016 consultation paper suggested the new duty could be applied not only to professional practitioners such as social workers but also administrative and support staff such as school secretaries, caretakers and dinner ladies.

The consultation paper suggested that individuals could face professional or criminal sanctions for failing to take appropriate action where child abuse was known or suspected.

The paper drew more than 760 responses from social workers, police officers, local government, children’s charities, educators, health professionals, victim support groups and members of the public.

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There was overwhelming opposition to introducing the mandatory requirement: “Nearly 70% felt mandatory reporting could have an adverse impact on the child protection system and 85% said it would not in itself lead to appropriate action being taken to protect children,” said the official response published on Monday.

“Only 25% were in favour of a duty to act, and less than half that number, 12%, supported introducing mandatory reporting.”

The majority of respondents were in favour of allowing the government’s existing child protection reforms time to embed before considering extra statutory measures. They include better joint working between different local agencies, further work to encourage new practices and better training.

A Home Office minister, Victoria Atkins, endorsed this approach, saying: “Child sexual exploitation and abuse are sickening crimes. In the past we have seen vulnerable children let down by the very people who should have protected them from harm. We are clear that this must never be repeated.

“We have set a clear expectation on the police by giving child sexual abuse the status of a national threat, set up joint inspections of health, police, and children’s social care, and introduced a national whistleblowing helpline with the NSPCC for any employee who wants to raise a concern about how their organisation is dealing with a concern about a child.”

Isabelle Trowler, the chief social worker for children and families, said the government had listened to the views of social work leaders who knew the system best and understood the unintended consequences that introducing mandatory reporting could produce.

“Our focus should be to continue building public confidence in our first-class child protection system, which holds a door wide open for vulnerable children and also provides support for families,” she said.