Child cruelty crimes surge by more than a fifth - we urgently need government action

Our helpline is experiencing an increase in child cruelty reports

Some of our latest helpline figures paint a worrying picture about child cruelty:

• During the first year of the pandemic we contacted agencies about an average of 25 children aged 5 and under a day to investigate physical abuse and neglect
• During 2020/21 we contacted agencies, including statutory safeguarding partners, about more than 9,400 young children with worries about physical abuse and neglect – up almost 10% on the previous year
• In total nearly half of all our referrals related to child cruelty were made about children aged 5 and under, highlighting the risk they face before coming into regular contact with professionals at school

Improving the multi-agency response

We’re urging the government to show leadership, address serious problems within the child protection system throughout England and use the Health and Care Bill to strengthen the response to child abuse.

In its current form the Bill will put children in danger due to proposed changes to NHS structures. This could destabilise multi-agency safeguarding partnerships by disrupting working relationships, resulting in a loss of experienced staff.

Recent reports from child safeguarding experts, including Sir Alan Wood, have called for better leadership and information sharing in multi-agency safeguarding partnerships to strengthen the local response to abuse.

Multi-agency safeguarding partnerships are led by health bodies, local authorities and the police. They’re engaged with education leaders and other organisations that do vital work to protect children from harm.

GPs, nurses and health visitors are in a prime position to identify safeguarding concerns. They’re often the only eyes and ears in the community that can spot signs of abuse before young children go to school. We fear the changes to the NHS could further weaken safeguarding partnerships that already need urgent improvement.

The Health and Care Bill will scrap existing Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and create Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) which will be legally responsible for safeguarding children across large geographical areas.

Amending the Health and Care Bill

Working with a wider children’s sector group, we're asking for an amendment to the Bill to send a clear message that ICBs must prioritise their legal duty to safeguard children.

We want to see government accountability for the safe transition of child protection responsibilities and legislation that strengthens health professionals’ leading role in multi-agency safeguarding partnerships.

We’re also calling on the government to adopt the recommendations made by Sir Alan Wood to improve multi-agency safeguarding partnerships and enact a swift cross-departmental response to the national review into the deaths of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson.

As part of the Children’s Services Funding Alliance, we’ve long urged ministers to address the funding shortfall in children’s services.

We’re also campaigning for action to resolve the national shortage of 5,000 health visitors who are responsible for safeguarding the youngest children.

DISCLAiMER

*This is a true story but names have been changed to protect identities and any photographs are posed by models.