Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conclusions they have drawn from the research commissioned by the Department for Education in 2010 into the development of government guidance on governance arrangements in children’s services: <i>Research governance in children’s services: the scope for new advice</i>.

This report highlighted the importance of governance and ethical consideration in children’s services research. The report suggested that at the time of the research, local practice was variable, but there were, and still are, a number of accepted research governance arrangements in place for local authorities and other research organisations to seek guidance and approval, including the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), the Social Research Association, the NSPCC, and university ethics boards. The Department for Education has concluded that these arrangements are the best route for local authorities and external research organisations to obtain external guidance on research governance and ethics.

Following publication of the report, the Department, in consultation with the ADCS Research Group, has developed ethics guidance and an ethics checklist for its own funded research and evaluation. This is based on the Government Social Research Professional Guidance, which sets out the principles that should be used when conducting social research for the Government. It states that those conducting, commissioning or managing Government social research have a responsibility to ensure that research is conducted using appropriate methods and that the rights and interests of all those involved in the research process are protected. Research should be conducted in a manner that:

• ensures valid, informed consent is obtained before individuals participate in research (for children under 16, parents/legal guardians as well as the children themselves must be approached for consent to participate);

• takes reasonable steps to identify and remove barriers to participation;

• avoids personal and social harm; and

• protects the confidentiality of information about research participants and their identities.