Government to establish Child Protection Authority in response to inquiry recommendation
The Government is to establish a Child Protection Authority (CPA) to improve “national oversight and consistency” in child protection practices, as recommended by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
The Minister for Safeguarding, Jess Phillips, told the House of Commons last week (8 April) the CPA will provide “national leadership and learning on child protection and safeguarding”, with work to establish it beginning this year.
Under the plans, the CPA would initially be set up within the national child safeguarding review panel, with work starting “immediately” to expand the panel’s role.
Phillips said: “IICSA revealed the terrible suffering caused to many child sexual abuse victims, and the shameful failure of institutions to put the protection of children before the protection of their own reputations.
“Its findings, culminating in the final report published in October 2022, were designed to better protect children from sexual abuse, and address the shortcomings that left them exposed to harm.”
She announced that following the report’s recommendation, the Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a new mandatory duty to report child sexual abuse for individuals in England undertaking activity with children, and a new criminal offence of obstructing an individual from making a report under that duty.
She said: “Mandatory reporting will create a culture of openness and honesty, rather than cover-ups and secrecy. It will empower professionals and volunteers to take prompt, decisive action to report sexual abuse. […] Anyone who deliberately seeks to prevent someone from fulfilling their mandatory duty to report child sexual abuse will face the full force of the law.”
Additionally, the Minister announced that Ofsted, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services and the Care Quality Commission are to conduct a joint thematic review of child abuse in family settings, starting this autumn.
However, on the IICSA proposal for a wider national redress scheme for all victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in institutional settings, Phillips noted that “the scale of [the] proposal demands that it is considered in the context of the spending review later this year”.
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: “Behind every shocking headline about grooming or exploitation is a child who has been failed and a system that has sidelined their experience and their voice. This must never be allowed to happen to any child again – the steps being set out now must be a line in the sand.
“[…] I look forward to helping to shape the new Child Protection Authority, to ensure it builds on existing strong practice.”
Lottie Winson
