18 August 2023

College responds to consultation on child safeguarding

Children Consultations Policy

We have responded to the Home Office call for evidence on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.

Summary

We have commented on a proposed mandatory reporting duty of child sexual abuse and that a breach of this duty should constitute a criminal offence. Our profession is already fully committed to safeguard children and has very clear professional duties and guidance requiring them to act on concerns about child abuse. Practitioners are required to repeat mandatory training on safeguarding on a regular cycle and The College offers training for pre-registration trainees. We believe that introducing a mandatory reporting duty and a new criminal offense would not improve compliance among our sector professionals who already act to protect children.

Find out more about the consultation

Section 1: Who the duty should apply to
Section 2: Scope of the duty
Section 3: Sanctions for failure to report
Section 4: How to ensure successful implementation

Further information

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