Jeremy Browne

The following table shows the number of children who were taken into care in each of the last five years. Children who were taken into care were children who started to be looked after under a care order, police protection, emergency protection order or child assessment order.

Children who were taken into care during the years ending 31 March:

The information provided in the table is also published in table C2 of the statistical release, which is available online: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption

In ‘Working Together 2013', the Department for Education set out the expectations and requirements of all local authorities in relation to their statutory duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. A copy of ‘Working Together 2013' can be found in the library of the House, or online at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/281368/Working_together_to_safeguard_children.pdf. This includes how children and families should be treated during any investigations. Should any parent be dissatisfied about the way a local authority has handled a specific case, they may find it helpful to obtain details of the authority's own complaints procedure.

Parents may wish to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman if they feel dissatisfied with the handling of their complaint under the local authority procedures. It is the Ombudsman's role to investigate complaints in a fair and independent manner.

Assessment of overall children's services provision and safeguarding is undertaken independently by Ofsted under the new Single Inspection Framework.

Parents should, in the first instance, complain to the service provider or the local authority's complaints officer if they are unhappy about the way a local authority has handled a specific case. They may find it helpful to contact the local authority to obtain details of the authority's own complaints procedure. Details of how to complain about a local authority service can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/understand-how-your-council-works/make-a-complaint

Parents may wish to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) if they feel dissatisfied with the handling of their complaint under the local authority procedure. More information on making a complaint to the LGO is available at www.lgo.org.uk or by calling the LGO advice line on 0300 061 0614 or 0845 602 1983.

Ofsted inspected Somerset County Council's arrangements for the protection of children between 24 June 2013 and 3 July 2013 and published their findings on 5 August 2013. Ofsted judged the authority's performance as ‘inadequate'.

My officials met with representatives of Somerset County Council on 20 August 2013 to discuss the Ofsted judgement, the Department's proposed course of action and the Council's immediate plans for improvement.

I wrote to the leader of Somerset County Council, John Osman, on 13 September 2013 to underline my concern at the Ofsted judgement of performance and set out my intention to issue the council with an Improvement Notice.

I issued a 12-month Improvement Notice to Somerset County Council on 22 November 2013, requiring the council to institute an improvement board headed by an independent chair to drive improvement and hold partners to account. The improvement board has sat monthly since October 2013 and I am represented at each Board by my officials.

I plan to visit Somerset County Council to assess improvements for myself. My officials will also undertake a review of progress in June 2014 and report findings to me. I will then assess progress against the Improvement Notice and Ofsted recommendations and decide whether to intervene further.

There have been a number of assessments of the health harms of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in recent years. These include the following:

- a summary of the health harms of drugs published by the Department in August 2011 sets out an assessment of the health harms of novel psychoactive drugs among others. The report outlined acute and chronic problems associated these substances, but the date of the evidence review meant it was early to determine the actual harms of the NPS;

- the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) published its report ‘Consideration of the Novel Psychoactive Substances (‘Legal Highs’)’ in 2011. The report includes an assessment of the harms that these drugs cause;

- since 2010, the ACMD has published a number of reports on their assessment of different types of NPS, including the harms they cause. The drugs the ACMD have reported on include tryptamines, NBOMe compounds, benzofurans, O-desmethyltramadol, methoxetamine, synthetic cannabinoids, and 2-DPMP (Ivory Wave);

- on 30 October 2014, the Home Office published the report of an expert panel they appointed to look at the issue of NPS and provide recommendations to the Government. Alongside the report and the Government response, the Home Office also published an NPS evidence review. The evidence review found that that the available evidence suggests that the overall harms from NPS are low compared to the overall harms from traditional illicit drugs;

- the Government’s Drugs Early Warning System (DEWS) helps ensure that harmful new substances are rapidly identified. Local and national intelligence gathered by DEWS – including health harms – assists the ACMD in its assessment of harms of NPS. On a broader scale, national intelligence is fed into a Europe-wide early warning system for new substances;

- FRANK, the government’s drug information service, has information about the harms caused by NPS; and

- Public Health England (PHE) is supporting and contributing clinical expertise to the first set of clinical guidelines on the acute management and treatment of novel psychoactive substances (NPS). Project NEPTUNE will advise clinicians on how to assess and respond to NPS related harm and is currently being developed by the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust. The guidelines are due to be published in 2015. PHE has committed to using its networks and other resources to support the dissemination of project NEPTUNE’s findings and advice.

The Crown Estate operates commercially at arm's length from the Treasury. The Crown Estate makes commercial decisions in line with the Crown Estate Act 1961 and does not normally discuss them in detail with the Treasury.

The Crown Estate operates commercially at arm's length from the Treasury. The Crown Estate makes commercial decisions in line with the Crown Estate Act 1961 and does not normally discuss them in detail with the Treasury.

The Crown Estate operates commercially at arm's length from the Treasury. The Crown Estate makes commercial decisions in line with the Crown Estate Act 1961 and does not normally discuss them in detail with the Treasury.

Treasury Ministers meet the Crown Estate Board and staff several times a year.

I refer to the Written Ministerial Statement of 12 December 2013, Official Report, column 58WS, in which I announced that the Coalition Government would conduct a review into new psychoactive substances led by a panel of experts.

I have now considered the expert panel’s report on the new psychoactive substances review including consideration of possible responses to the existence of "head shops". The Government will respond to the expert panel’s report and its recommendations shortly.

The Coalition Government has already banned hundreds of new psychoactive substances. We have published guidance to support local authorities and continue to work closely with law enforcement to tackle this reckless trade.