Children: Ofsted Report

Baroness Howe of Idlicote Excerpts

Wednesday 25th May 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

My Lords, one of the themes coming out from the Munro review and the Ofsted report, which I think is widely accepted, is the need to make sure that all our child protection systems put the interests of the child at their heart. The underlying critique that Professor Munro has developed is that, over time, the system has become more focused on a box-ticking, prescriptive approach, rather than putting the interests of the child at the heart of everything that we do. I accept the point made by my noble friend: we need to make sure that children are aware of their rights and the avenues that are open to them. The Ofsted report highlights the fact that children do not have a loud enough voice in the processes as they currently operate. We need to try to redress that balance.

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote]

My Lords, can the Minister tell me whether an assessment has been made of how many perpetrators of serious neglect and abuse had similarly abusive and neglectful backgrounds and whether this is likely to influence the prioritisation of early intervention in the coalition’s programme?

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

I do not know the answer to the noble Baroness’s question about whether anybody has done that analysis and I do not know how simple it would be to do. I will ask my officials whether such an analysis has been done and, if it has, I will of course share it with the noble Baroness.