Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Baroness Grey-Thompson Excerpts

Monday 9th June 2025 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Baroness Grey-Thompson]

66: After Clause 4, insert the following new Clause—
“Mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse(1) The Children Act 2004 is amended as follows.(2) After section 16LB insert—“16LC Reporting of child sexual abuseSubject to the provisions of section 16LD(7), (8), and (10) and section 16LF, providers of any one or more of the activities set out in Schedule 1A, who know of, or have reasonable grounds for suspecting the commission of, sexual abuse of children in their care, must, as soon as is practicable after it comes to their knowledge or attention, report it to—(a) the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO),(b) Local Authority Children’s Services, or(c) such other single point of contact with the local authority as that authority may designate for that purpose. 16LD Process(1) If the report under section 16LC is made orally, the maker of the report must confirm the report in writing no later than seven days thereafter.(2) Section 16LC applies whether or not the activities are defined in any enactment as regulated activities involving children.(3) Section 16LC applies whether a commission of sexual abuse takes place, or is alleged or suspected to have taken place, in the setting of the activity or elsewhere.(4) For the purposes of section 16LC the operators of a setting in which the activity takes place and staff employed at any such setting in a managerial or general welfare role are deemed to stand in a position of trust and are deemed to have direct contact with children in their care whether or not such children are or have been attended by them.(5) For the purposes of section 16LC all other employed or contracted staff or voluntary staff and assistants are deemed to stand in a position of trust only if they have had direct contact with and have attended such children during their time in such a position.(6) For the purposes of section 16LC children are or are deemed to be in the care of the providers of the activities set out in Schedule 1A—(a) in the case of the operators of any setting in which the activity takes place and of staff employed by the operators at any such setting in a managerial or general welfare role, for the period of time during which the operators are bound contractually or otherwise to accommodate or to care for such children, whether such children are resident or in daily attendance wherever the activity is provided, and(b) in the case of all other employed or contracted staff or voluntary staff and assistants, for the period of time only in which they are personally attending such children in the capacity for which they were employed, or their services were contracted for.(7) The Secretary of State may, in exceptional cases, issue a suspension document to rescind or temporarily suspend the duty referred to in section 16LC in the case of any specified child or children if it appears to the Secretary of State that the child’s welfare, safety or protection would be prejudiced or compromised by the fulfilment of the duty.(8) Where it appears to the Secretary of State that the welfare, safety and protection of children is furthered, they may exempt—(a) any specified organisation that works with children generally, and its members, or(b) any specified medical officer,from compliance with the duty referred to in section 16LC provided that no allegation is made against that entity or person.(9) The Secretary of State may make regulations varying or adding to or deleting from the list of activities in Schedule 1A, whether or not such activities are defined in any enactment as regulated activities involving children.(10) A person who makes a report under section 16LC in good faith, or who does any other thing required by sections 16LC to 16LF, may not by so doing be held liable in any civil or criminal or administrative proceeding, and may not be held to have breached any code of professional etiquette or ethics, or to have departed from any acceptable form of professional conduct. (11) Reports under section 16LC and the identities of the persons making them must be received and held by their proper recipients in confidence.16LE Offences(1) Failure to fulfil the duty set out in section 16LC following the procedure described in section 16LD before the expiry of the period of seven days of the matter, allegation or suspicion first coming to the knowledge or attention of the provider or of any person whose services are used by the provider as defined in section 16LD is an offence.(2) A person who causes or threatens to cause any detriment to a mandated person, being a person placed under the duty to report pursuant to section 16LC above, or to another person, either wholly or partly related to the mandated person’s actual or intended provision of a report under section 16LC, is guilty of an offence.(3) Detriment includes any personal, social, economic, professional, or other detriment to the person.(4) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a level 5 fine on the standard scale.(5) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (2) is liable on summary conviction to a level 4 fine on the standard scale.16LF DefencesIt is a defence—(a) for any person to show that the Secretary of State acting pursuant to section 16LD(7) has issued a suspension document;(b) for any person employed by or operating as an organisation that works with children or for any medical officer to show that the Secretary of State has by a suspension document, whether temporarily or permanently, exempted it and its members or any medical officer from compliance with the duty in section 16LC; (c) to show that a report of the commission of the known or suspected child abuse has been made by any other party to the body or person under section 16LC(a) to (c) before or during the seven days referred to in section 16LE(1).16LG DefinitionsIn sections 16LC to 16LF—“children” means persons under the age of 18 years;“operators of a setting” , in the case of schools, sixth form colleges, and colleges of further education in private ownership, includes the proprietors, members of governing bodies, and board members in the case of ownership by a limited liability company;“providers of activities” has the same meaning as in section 6 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.”(3) After Schedule 1, insert—“Schedule 1AREGULATED AND OTHER ACTIVITIES1 Education including—(a) schools;(b) sixth form colleges;(c) colleges of further education;(d) pupil referral units;(e) residential special schools;(f) hospital education trusts;(g) settings of education other than at schools;(h) private tuition centres. 2 Healthcare including— (a) hospitals;(b) hospices;(c) GP surgeries;(d) walk-in clinics;(e) outpatient clinics.3 Others including—(a) child nurseries and kindergarten provision;(b) childminders and childcare providers registered on the early years register or the compulsory or voluntary part of the childcare register;(c) registered social care providers and managers for children;(d) children’s homes;(e) children’s hospices;(f) youth offender institutions;(g) the Probation Service;(h) private institutions contracted by public bodies to provide services to children;(i) organisations providing activities to children, such as sports clubs, music, dance or drama groups, youth clubs, and Ministry of Defence cadet forces including Sea Cadets, the Volunteer Cadet Corps, the Army Cadet Force, the Air Training Corps and the Combined Cadet Force, Fire Cadets;(j) organisations providing holidays for children or supervising children while on holiday;(k) churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, and other places of worship and religious organisations, and other organisations holding non-religious worldviews;(l) services offered to children by local authorities outwith their statutory duties;(m) services offered to children by the police outwith their statutory duties; (n) transport services including taxis and coaches commissioned by the providers of the regulated activities in this Schedule.””

[Baroness Grey-Thompson (CB)]

My Lords, Amendment 66 is in my name and those of the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, and the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan.

This is a probing amendment, the core aim of which is to further protect children. In January this year, this House debated my Private Member’s Bill on mandatory reporting of child sex abuse. It ties in very well with Amendment 107B, which is also in this group, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Watson of Invergowrie. We are all very keen, I think, to see the IICSA recommendations implemented in full. I will not prejudge what the Minister will say, but I expect to be told that there is another vehicle for this amendment; none the less, I think this is worthy of debate.

From Rotherham to Rochdale, there have been far too many children who have been abused and too few perpetrators brought to justice. We must continue to learn from our past mistakes. This amendment is a step towards ensuring that positive changes are being made. This amendment seeks to ensure that adults in positions of authority over children in regulated activities would have a legal requirement to report any suspicion of or knowledge of child sexual abuse. Regulated activities include those in education, healthcare, sports and others, which are fully listed in the proposed new schedule. I recognise that this is the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, but I am keen that protection goes much wider than just schools. I am very keen to hear what the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, might say on the duty of care.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Grey-Thompson (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her response—it was perhaps not unexpected. I also thank all those who spoke in this debate. I am really pleased that there is consensus on mandatory reporting, but perhaps the wording requires a little more work. I understand why His Majesty’s Government think that another vehicle might be more appropriate—perhaps this is a useful rehearsal for that future debate. I do not think what the Government are currently proposing goes far enough, but the Minister is absolutely right that we need to use every opportunity we can to discuss the protection of children.

I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, for the decades of work that she has done in this area. She has had a couple of attempts at a Private Member’s Bill and I am following her footsteps.

The noble Baroness raised the absolutely abhorrent case of Jimmy Savile, who was given complete, unfettered access to vulnerable people based on the fundraising that he did. As a child, I spent lots of time at Stoke Mandeville and at other sports events in places where he turned up. I remember one event when I was probably about 12 years old. He arrived to a great fanfare and lots of people said, “Jimmy’s here, Jimmy’s here; you have to go and see him”. I was not particularly keen to do that. There was one adult who said to me, very quietly, “No, you don’t need to go”. I asked why—“Everyone is saying we have to go and see Jimmy”—and she said, “No, no; you can just stay here. You don’t need to go”. I did not think anything of it or tell anyone. I was chatting with my friends, and I thought she probably thought that chatting with my friends was more important than going to see him.

That was one adult who had a suspicion and was uncomfortable about behaviour, but there was nothing I could raise and nobody I could complain to. I was just told, “You don’t need to go near him”. It reminds me of how easy it is for adults in positions of power or trust to groom and to coax and to then lead to abuse, and how adults have an amazing position, where they can get into really uncomfortable situations. But adults also have incredibly positive relationships with children. I note the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, and recognise her extensive work in volunteering. I do not want this amendment in any way to stop people volunteering or to make them feel that they are not able to or that there is undue pressure on them, but I wonder whether there is a form of words, or whether the right training and regulations could be put around it, that would enable people to feel more comfort. Again, a lot of youth organisations and other organisations have very positive relationships with young people.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan. We have worked together for a long time on duty of care. I have to say that the idea for an ombudsman that was in my 2017 government report on duty of care was actually borrowed from him and the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, from the early 1990s. I think we both agree that sport, at its best, is absolutely amazing. It can give people a very positive life. I have benefited hugely from my time in sport, but whether it is teachers or coaches, those who want to access children live on their reputation. I have heard a number of times, “But they are a good coach”, or, “They are good at their job”, and they are able to slip through the net.

I also pay tribute to the survivors of football abuse, who I have met several times over the years. A number of them came into Parliament about 18 months ago to talk about their experience and how it was just ignored by so many people around them because there was no legislation in place. Again, they fell victim to, “But they are a good coach”. Abusers were able to tie into these young boys’ dreams of wanting to play professional football. That leads me to the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, and my noble friend Lady Finlay: we have to be better at defining what a healthy relationship is, and educate children at an appropriate age about that. In a sporting context, there is far more that we can do on the athlete pathway and as people graduate through to performance levels. My noble friends Lord Meston and Lord Bichard and my noble and learned friend Lady Butler-Sloss have extensive experience of these issues, very sadly, and we should listen to them.

Like my noble friend Lord Bichard, I argued against the watering down of DBS checks, because it would allow those who want access to children to be able to get it too easily. I am reassured by some of the statements made about sharing information between LADOs, but I do not think they go far enough.

I would support the amendments from the noble Lords, Lord Lucas and Lord Watson of Invergowrie, if they brought them back at another time. The IICSA report took seven years. I believe strongly that all its recommendations need to be implemented. It is not just about the intention of the recommendations; they should be implemented in full. With that in mind, I recognise that I probably need to do some more work on drafting and have further discussions on this amendment. At this time, I beg leave to withdraw.

Amendment 66 withdrawn.