Teachers to be banned if they don't report child sex abuse under new law
Tories will finally bring in new laws forcing teachers and healthcare workers to report sex abuse - nine years after saying they would.
The Home Office has announced that those who don't report abuse they've witnessed or been made aware of face being banned from working with young people. And those who actively protect child abusers could be jailed for seven years.
The new measures don't go as far as laws promised by former PM David Cameron in 2015. Back then he said people who work with children could be jailed for five years if they turned a blind eye to child abuse.
The laws will apply to anyone in regulated roles working with children, the Government said. Convicted sex offenders will also be stopped from changing their name, a move that follows years of campaigning by victims' groups.
Gabrielle Shaw, chief executive for The National Association for People Abused in Childhood said she welcomes more accountability for those with a duty of care. She said: “The introduction of mandatory reporting is a big step in the right direction, which must be implemented alongside an approach that prioritises the wellbeing of the child and ensures they have access to ongoing, specialist support. This will require investment in training requirements, wider supporting structures and effective tracking and review."
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Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “There is no excuse for turning a blind eye to a child’s pain. Having listened to the voices of victims and survivors and reviewed the work of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, we are working at pace to get a mandatory reporting duty for child sexual abuse onto the statute book."
The Government has come under fire for long delays in bringing in mandatory reporting laws. In May 2015 Mr Cameron vowed: “Professionals who fail to protect children will be held properly accountable and council bosses who preside over such catastrophic failure will not see rewards for that failure.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “School leaders take children’s safety incredibly seriously and invest time and funding in training and resources to support efforts to tackle all forms of child sexual abuse. They already have a range of statutory duties when it comes to safeguarding and are frequently inspected against these.
“However, schools rely on a wide range of other services when reporting concerns. We are concerned about the current capacity of services like children’s social care and the police to provide children with the help they need should mandatory reporting lead to an increase in referrals being made.
“It’s vital the government provides these services with sufficient funding to ensure they can cope with demand and are not forced to raise thresholds for intervention.”
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