Home Office publishes procedural information for professionals on new FGM reporting duty

The Home Office has published procedural information for professionals on the new mandatory reporting duty for female genital mutilation (FGM).

The new duty will come into force next week (31 October) via the Serious Crime Act 2015, following a public consultation.

It will require regulated health and social care professionals and teachers in England and Wales to report known cases of FGM in under 18-year-olds to the police.

The Home Office said the purpose of the document was “to give professionals subject to the duty and their employers an understanding of the legal requirements it places on them, a suggested process to follow, and an overview of the action which may be taken if they fail to comply with the duty”.

The document is also intended to give the police an understanding of the duty and the next steps they should take upon receiving a report.

“In addition to complying with the duty, professionals should continue to have regard to their wider safeguarding responsibilities, which require consideration and action to be taken whenever there is any identified or known risk to a child, whether in relation to FGM or another matter,” the Home Office stressed.

The document, Mandatory Reporting of Female Genital Mutilation – procedural information, covers:

• Making a report: when a report must be made; visually identified cases – when you might see FGM; verbally disclosed cases; timeframe for reports; making a report; record keeping; informing the child’s family; your responsibilities after you have made a report; safeguarding duty in Wales;
• Next steps following a report: FGM protection orders;
• Failure to comply with the duty: health and social care professionals; teachers;
• Annex A: FGM mandatory reporting process map;
• Annex B: Q and A.

A copy of the document can be viewed here.