Supported by
ListenUK
Protecting vulnerable children
The Every Child in Need Campaign protects vulnerable children
Today, the Government’s consultation on changes to the support for children in need closes. A wide range of organisations, which represent hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children, including child victims of trafficking and children in long-term hospital care, have come together as the Every Child In Need campaign to call on the Government not to introduce the proposed changes.
The Department for Education is proposing replacing statutory guidance which has been in place for the past 12 years with a new document. If introduced, this will remove national minimum standards on how quickly local authorities must see children referred to them, and assess and meet their needs.
Ministers say these changes involve cutting red tape. We disagree. The current guidance provides an essential floor below which no local authority is allowed to fall. The changes would result in a postcode lottery, with some authorities acting speedily and others foot-dragging for weeks or months.
What causes us real concern is that the proposals are being driven through without any proper evidence base. No independent work has been undertaken to examine the likely impact upon the wide range of vulnerable children who will be affected.
We were dismayed that the consultation exercise failed to consult properly with children and was carried out over the summer, when Parliament is in recess and schools are closed. We urge ministers to think again before removing this critical plank of our child welfare system
Letter to The Telegraph (15 subscribers)
4 September 2012
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/9518321/Protecting-vulnerable-children.html
