Offences against Children

(asked on 22nd October 2014) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the recommendation in the World Health Organisation publication, Investing in children: the European child maltreatment prevention action plans 2015 to 2020, that a public health approach to child maltreatment should be adopted, if the Government will take steps to implement that recommendation in the UK.


Answered by
Dan Poulter Portrait
Dan Poulter
This question was answered on 27th October 2014

The Government welcomes the action plan including, in particular, its focus on maximising the gains from evidence-based programmes. The inter-agency statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children places a significant emphasis on preventative, early help. That approach includes the important part played by, among others, health visitors, family nurses, school nurses and the Healthy Child Programme. In this respect the Government has increased the number of health visitors by 2,206 since 2010 and the number of places on the Family Nurse Partnership programme will increase from 6,500 in 2010 to 16,000 in 2015.

The Healthy Child Programme is the key universal service for improving the health and wellbeing of children, by bringing together the evidence-based actions of those who deliver care to babies and children. It provides health and development reviews, health promotion, parenting support, and screening and immunisation programmes.

Note:

- health visitor numbers compare May 2010 with end-July 2014

- FNP places – original commitment was to double them, to 13,000 by 2014 (later increased to 16,000 by 2015) – which suggests a 2010 baseline (which we are unable to confirm in a hurry) of 6,500.

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