Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of child protection procedures on families affected by myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome.

The statutory guidance ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018)’ clarifies local authorities’ responsibilities for leading the statutory assessment of children in need and making child protection enquiries. The guidance sets out that local authorities, with their partners, should develop and publish local protocols for assessment. A local protocol should set out clear arrangements for how cases should be managed once a child is referred into local authority children’s social care and be consistent with the requirements of Working Together. The local protocol should reflect where assessments for some children will require particular care, for instance due to health conditions. The detail of each protocol should be led by the local authority in discussion and agreement with the safeguarding partners and relevant agencies where appropriate.

Every assessment undertaken should draw together relevant information gathered from the child and their family, as well as relevant practitioners to help decide the nature and level of the child’s needs and assess what interventions and support should be provided under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989. This should take account of any health conditions.

As it is for local authorities to manage this locally, the department does not hold a central record of this.