Children to be given greater voice in care proceedings

More will be done to ensure children over the age of 10 who are involved in care proceedings or custody cases have their views heard in court, the government has announced.

Under the Children Act 1989, courts considering a public or private law order in relation to a child already have to pay regard to “the wishes and feelings” of the child concerned.

However, speaking at an event today, justice minister Simon Hughes said that the legal right is often overlooked.

“Children and young people have a legal right to be heard before decisions are made about their own future, and where decisions are being made that will impact on them,” Hughes said at a conference held by the Family Justice Young People’s Board today.

“Too often that legal right is not being exercised or it is being interpreted to mean others can make a presumption about a child’s view – often for the best of intentions and acting in their interest, but nevertheless the outcome is that the child does not feel that their own distinct voice has been heard.”

Hughes said the government is committed to all children and young people having a role in all family proceedings affecting them so that they can put across their views and feelings.

“It is my clear intention that where disputes about children are settled in court or through an alternative form of resolving disputes such as mediation, children and young people aged 10 and over will in the future be given the chance to make clear their views, in person or if preferred in an another way, as to what is the best resolution of the family dispute in their interest,” he said.

Hughes said he will work alongside the president of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, and other family court judges, as well as the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), local authorities, and young people to implement this change.

Ensuring children and young people are able to make their views known was one of the recommendations to come out of the Family Justice Review, which was published in November 2011.

It said that children should, as early as possible, be supported to make their views known, and older children should be offered a menu of options, to lay out the ways in which they could, if they wish, do this.

Anthony Douglas, Cafcass chief executive, said the government had outlined “some progressive and practical ways” for how children can be more included in their own cases.

He added: “All agencies will be sitting down together to find a way to make these changes happen on the ground in a way which improves the responsiveness and sensitivity of the whole family justice system to children and young people who need our help, and to find better and better ways of improving their lives.”

Source: CYPNow

Barnardo’s calls for better education on the dangers of ‘sexting’

Barnardo’s has urged police forces not to take a “heavy-handed” approach to dealing with young people found to have sent explicit images of themselves to friends.

The charity is calling for young people to receive better education and support to understand the dangers of sexually risky behaviour such as “sexting”, the term used to describe the sending of indecent images of themselves to a friend by phone or the internet.

The call follows media reports that a Nottinghamshire schoolgirl received a police caution for sending a topless picture of herself to her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was also reported to have received the same penalty after he showed the image to his friends.

Nottinghamshire police highlighted the case in a letter recently sent to all secondary schools in the county that warned about the rise of instances of sexting involving children. However, it said it was unaware of the outcome of the case reported in the media and so could not confirm whether the young people were convicted.

Under the Protection of Children Act 1978, any conviction involving indecent images of young people can carry a sentence of between six months and 14 years in prison. Those convicted can also be placed on the sex offenders register.

Commenting on the reported conviction, Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said: “The police have got it wrong in this case. Criminalising young people for sexting can harm their education, job prospects and life chances.

“Barnardo’s is seeing more sexting among the people we work with. Young people need to realise the danger of indecent ‘selfies’, which can’t be withdrawn once they are sent and can be used by peers to bully or coerce a child into sexual behaviour.

“Barnardo’s is calling for sexually risky behaviour to be prevented and tackled with better support and tailored sex education measures such as our Wud-U app.”

Coram Children’s Legal Centre warns that while young people who possess or send sexual images of themselves are unlikely to face conviction for a first offence, “each case is looked at on its merits, and individual aggravating factors such as emotional and psychological damage will be taken into account”.

Source: CYPNow

Child protection outsourcing plans ‘dead in the water’, claims Loughton

Controversial plans to allow councils to outsource child protection services are “dead in the water” following the departure of Michael Gove from the Department for Education, former children’s minister Tim Loughton has claimed.

Gove was replaced as Education Secretary last week by Nicky Morgan as part of a major government reshuffle prior to next May’s general election.

Conservative MP Loughton, who served as children’s minister from 2010 to 2012, told CYP Now that while he does not foresee any major policy changes in relation to schools, certain children’s social care initiatives at the DfE could “lose momentum” under Morgan.

Proposals to allow councils to outsource child protection services, the consultation for which ended on 31 May, received mixed responses from the sector. A number of organisations said they would only support them if those delivering services cannot make a profit.

Prior to Gove’s departure, the government backtracked, announcing that only non-profit organisations would be allowed to deliver statutory child protection services.

The plans are set to be debated by peers and MPs later this year, but Loughton said they faced an uncertain future now that Gove has gone.

“The response to the recent proposals on the consultation on contracting out responsibility for some children’s services went down very badly,” he said.

“In my view [the proposals] were borne out of ideology rather than pragmatism and were driven quite a bit by Michael Gove. The government had to do quite a quick U-turn.

“That one is pretty dead in the water [without Gove]. The plans will lose momentum.”

Meanwhile, the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) has made fresh calls for the proposals to be dropped following Gove’s departure.

“We are concerned that proposals to change the law on children’s services provision will leave vulnerable children at the risk of the vagaries of the global market economy, which any responsible society should reject,” BASW chief executive Bridget Robb said.

Robb also called for clarification on additional child protection duties that have been handed to Conservative MP for Hemel Hempstead, Mike Penning, who is now responsible for child online protection as part of his brief as the new minister for policing, criminal justice, and victims.

“We want clarification on this responsibility and want reassurance that child protection investigation is not going to become the sole responsibility of the police,” Robb said.

“We have already seen the demise of most of the joint police and social worker investigation arrangements.

“We hope this is not going to be institutionalised through this ministerial separation of responsibility.”

The outsourcing children’s services proposals were laid before parliament last month and are set to be debated in the House of Lords before being voted on by MPs. If passed, the government wants to introduce them in October.

A DfE spokesman said there has been no change in government’s aim to improve the quality and efficiency of children’s social care.

“Some councils are already using external expertise to improve their work, while others have asked us to extend these freedoms so that they can look at other ways of delivering services,” the spokesman said.

“There will be no obligation for councils to take up these freedoms and any that do will still be held accountable by Ofsted.

“The draft regulations are currently before parliament and are due to be debated in both houses in due course.”

Source: CYPNow

The number of missing children in the London Borough of Redbridge has more than doubled in the last two years, police have revealed. The Waltham Forest Guardian reports that in 2013/14 there were 1,219 children reported missing in the borough, compared to 518 reports in 2011/12.

Nicky Morgan has been appointed Secretary of State for Education as part of a surprisingly sweeping Cabinet reshuffle that has seen a number of children’s sector ministerial posts change hands.

The former Treasury minister takes over from Michael Gove, who is to become the government’s Chief Whip with responsibility for Conservative Party discipline in the run-up to the 2015 general election.

As well as running the Department for Education, Morgan will retain her women and equalities ministerial portfolio, which she took up in April.

Figures collated by the NSPCC following a Freedom of Information request to police forces in England and Wales show that in 2013/14, 4,209 children were accused of sexual offences compared to 3,868 in 2012/13. That represents an increase of 8.8 per cent. –

The Department for Education has published updated guidance for social workers who wish to bid for grants under the Children’s Social Care Innovation programme. The guidance also gives details about how to apply and the support available. The deadline for applications is 5pm Friday 8 August.