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Paragraphs: 17.6 - 17.11
| 17.12 - 17.17
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17.6
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The first seminar looked at how we can ensure that every child
and their carer receive the full range of services they need and
to which they are entitled. Most children and their carers come
into contact with various agencies that operate nationally and locally.
These include education, health, housing, social services, the police
and social security. Discussion in this seminar focused on how to
make the most of these opportunities to make sure that no child
is lost to the system.
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17.7
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The mobility of England's population can make keeping track of
children more difficult. The problem of discovering the existence
of children was felt to be particularly acute in areas where children
who have just arrived in the country are settled. These difficulties
may be made worse by changes in practice of some services; for example,
changes in the organisation of the work of health visitors. In addition,
it was noted that some sectors of society feel excluded from, or
are hostile to, any form of intervention by those whom they see
as representing authority.
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17.8
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There is a well-developed system for recording the birth of a child
and for connecting the child with the health visiting service and
other health services. It should be noted, however, that organisational
changes have affected the work of health visitors, who can often
act as the 'eyes and ears' of the community. In the past, the health
visiting service was based on geographical boundaries, but this
is no longer the case. Under current arrangements, health visitors
are mostly attached to GPs and relate to that GP's patient list,
regardless of where the patient lives.
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17.9
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Once the child reaches school age, the health visitor will usually
transfer his or her records to the school nurse. However, a school
nurse may not always be available and children do not always attend
school. Parents are entitled to educate their children at home.
If a child has never attended school, as opposed to those who have
been withdrawn once they have started, parents are not legally obliged
to notify their local education authority of their child's existence.
Families who move home are not obliged to inform the authorities
of their movements. If parents do not do this, or do not then register
the child with the authorities at their new address, it is particularly
difficult to keep track of the child. Records held by the local
health authority will not necessarily be transferred if the child's
new address is not known and, as stated above, parents do not have
to enrol their child at school. Therefore, there is no guarantee
of successfully keeping track of all children, and there is likely
always to be a small number of children who either remain unknown,
or become 'lost' to the system.
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17.10
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The problem in respect of children newly arrived in this country
is perhaps more acute. The immigration service takes steps to ensure
that information in relation to unaccompanied children arriving
in this country is passed to the relevant authorities. An unaccompanied
child seeking asylum is referred to the children's panel of the
Refugee Council, which then provides support and advice to the child
throughout the asylum process. They also ensure that the child is
'plugged into' the social and health services. Some local authorities
have established teams that have direct links with the immigration
service.
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17.11
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The situation is rather less satisfactory where children arrive
in the UK as part of a 'family'. If a child arrives in the UK with
people who appear to be his or her parents, and the immigration
officer is satisfied that the family's documentation is genuine
and their reason for entering the UK is acceptable, they will be
given leave to enter and pass through immigration control. 'Families'
who are EU citizens will be subject to only minimal scrutiny, if
any at all. In such circumstances, no notification of the child's
arrival in the UK is made to health, education or social services.
One participant estimated that some 90 million people enter Britain
each year, of which about 75 million do so as EU citizens.
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Paragraphs: 17.6 -
17.11 | 17.12 - 17.17
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17.12
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Under current regulations, prospective foster parents must tell
the local authority of private foster care arrangements. There is
also an obligation on parents who are involved in having a child
privately fostered. There is no duty, however, to approve or register
private foster parents. It has to be recognised that a large number
of children who are privately fostered do not become known to the
authorities.
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17.13
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For children who live with their parents but go to a childminder
every day, the position is different. Local authorities must keep
a register of childminders and the registration system is based
on the person being "fit" to look after children. The local authority
must also inspect the premises annually. It is an offence to provide
daycare for children without being registered.
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17.14
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There was general agreement - with which I concur - that this inconsistency
in the law should be removed. These issues were fully reported by
Sir William Utting in the document People Like Us.
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17.15
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It was recognised that children may hesitate or be too frightened
to approach agencies who may be able to provide help and support.
Indeed, they may go out of their way to avoid identification by
such agencies. It was agreed that ways must be found to make it
easier for children experiencing difficulties to approach the agencies.
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17.16
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A number of participants agreed that there would be value in introducing
a process whereby all practitioners who come across a child for
the first time should, as a matter of routine, make sure they obtain
basic information about the child and his or her family. This would
include:
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the name of the child
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age
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address
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relationship to the primary carer
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whether he or she is registered with a GP and if so who
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if he or she is of school age, whether or not he or she is enrolled
at and attending school.
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17.17
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This practice should be put into operation across all key agencies
and include services such as housing and social security. If the
response to any or all of these questions gives rise to concern
it should trigger further inquiries. This may appear to be a rather
simple suggestion to a complex problem, but on reflection I concluded
that it would be yet another easy-to-operate safeguard, and if it
secures the well-being of even a handful of children it will have
justified itself.
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