Ensuring decision-makers in government introduce the best public policy for paediatricians and children and young people is an important part of our work. As part of this, the College recently worked with Royal College’s to highlight concerns that the government measures on mandatory reporting would be an ineffective way to help survivors of abuse.
The proposed mandatory reporting duty is part of the Crime and Policing Act, which received Royal Assent on 30 April. The duty would apply to individuals involved in regulated activities with children, including doctors, nurses and teachers.
Children and young people must be protected from CSA. To this end, the identification of effective protective measures is of paramount importance. The letter to the Secretary of State urges the Government to work with signatories to ensure that the final legislation is workable, evidence‑based, and delivers the improved outcomes that children and young people deserve.
In the letter signatories including RCPCH President Professor Steve Turner, RCPCH Officer for Child Protection Professor Andrew Rowland, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the College of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service state:
We fully recognise and support the government’s stated intention behind the duty: to ensure that every disclosure of sexual assault or abuse is treated with the seriousness it warrants, regardless of to whom a child or young person speaks. Protecting children and strengthening safeguarding practice are priorities we unequivocally share. However, we remain unconvinced that the duty as written is an effective way to help survivors of abuse.
They go on to highlight that challenges include:
- Duplication of duties that are already placed on clinicians.
- That it is likely to complicate an introduce significant inefficiencies into existing health pathways used to report concerns to the police, local authorities and others in the child protection system.
- Unless properly mitigated against, will impede the ability of the system to support vulnerable children and young people at any stage from identification of abuse to intervention.
The College recognises and supports the government’s stated intention behind the duty: to ensure that every disclosure of sexual assault or abuse is treated with the seriousness it warrants, regardless of to whom a child or young person speaks.
Now that the Crime and Policing Bill is an Act, our aim is to ensure that the duty is implemented in a way that protects children effectively, supports professionals, and maintains the trust that is often crucial for young people to seek help.
The letter follows RCPCH engagement directly with the government, parliamentarians and officials on the proposed mandatory reporting of CSA duty.
Discussions between Government and RCPCH have been informed by the RCPCH evidence-based position statement on mandatory reporting, which was submitted to the Bill Committee last year.
The letter to the Secretary of State is available to download below.