Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will issue guidance on the age threshold at which and for what period leaving one or more children alone or in charge of another child at home is an advisory issue, a child protection issue or a criminal offence.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The law is clear that any adult who has responsibility for any child or young person under 16 can be prosecuted for neglect if they leave a child unsupervised “in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health” (Section 1 Children and Young Persons Act 1933).
There are no plans for the Department for Education to issue guidance. The choice to leave children home alone is left to the parents to decide using their own judgement. The NSPCC produce guidance on this, which sets out the law and when it would become a child protection issue or a criminal offence to leave a child at home alone. The guidance can be found online at:
www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/advice-and-info/home-alone-guide-keeping-child-safe.pdf
Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will review The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 in accordance with the families test as recently announced by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Education Act 1996 places a duty on the parents of any child of compulsory school age who is registered at a school, to ensure their child’s regular attendance. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulation 2006 and subsequent amendments provide the basis upon which schools record pupil attendance. It ensures that both parents and the school know the whereabouts of pupils and are held to account for fulfilling their duty towards those pupils.
This is not new Government policy and it has been the result of considerable deliberation and scrutiny. The Department for Education does not intend to review the application of the 2013 Regulations in light of the announcement made by my Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions regarding the families test.
Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which overseas counterparts have complained to the Government about matters relating to adoption, care proceedings or other matters relating to child protection in the UK; and what the substance of those complaints was.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Data on the overall number of contacts from equivalent Departments overseas are not collated centrally within the Department for Education.
Over the past year, however, Government officials have held positive discussions, covering a wide range of international child safeguarding issues, with representatives from a number of European nations including Poland, the Slovak Republic, and the Czech Republic.