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People Trafficking
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they require social services departments to report to a central point any evidence of trafficking of—
and whether such a requirement is in accord with international obligations.[HL4512]
(a) children under 18; and
(b) adults;
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland): There is no specific requirement on the part of social services departments to report evidence of the trafficking of children under the age of 18 or the trafficking of adults.
We understand a number of successful multi-agency protocols have already been developed and are in use at points of entry to help identify persons who may have been trafficked.
This work has been complemented by the Government's publication of a toolkit providing advice on trafficking. This is a comprehensive resource to prevent trafficking that will serve to raise awareness and provide guidelines to practitioners, including social workers, who are likely to come into contact with victims of trafficking.
Earl Howe asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Ashton of Upholland: By definition, children in need of protection are children in need under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
The Department of Health launched the Refocusing Children's Services initiative to ensure that support for all children in need and their families was given proper consideration. A total of £700,000 was made available under the initiative for 43 different projects to pilot or promote new ways of supporting families with young children, especially children in need. The key message from the evaluation of these projects was that early intervention is important.
Evidence from the Refocusing Children's Services initiative projects about models of intervention that work well has been disseminated widely and used to inform the development of policy and related guidance such as Working Together to Safeguard Children (1999) and the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (2000).
All services provided by social services to children in need who are supported in their families or independently, including children who are the subject of child protection enquiries, are funded under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989. Only since 2000 have we been able to gather comprehensive information on needs activity and expenditure. However, information is not held centrally about changes to expenditure specifically in relation to child protection inquiries.
Baroness Sharp of Guildford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The following statutory instruments made under the Education Act 2002 have been amended due to an error or omission.
The Education (Additional Secondary School Proposals) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/1200) were amended by The Education (Additional Secondary School Proposals) (Amendment) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/1421).
The School Governance (Constitution) Regulations 2003/348, and the School Governance (Procedures)
The Federation of Schools Regulations 2003/1965 were amended by the Federation of Schools (Amendment) Regulations 2003/2133.
Baroness Sharp of Guildford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Ashton of Upholland: Schedule 2 to the Education Act 2002 was commenced by the bringing into force of Sections 35 and 36 in the Education Act 2002 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Order 2003 (SI 2003/1667), and came into force on 1 September.
What resources have been transferred from local authority child protection services to the implementation of Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 in accordance with the directive entitled Refocusing Children's Services, issued by the Department of Health in 1996.[HL4558]
Which statutory instruments under the Education Act 2002 have had to be amended subsequently due to an error or omission in the original instrument.[HL4584]
When they intend to commence Schedule 2 to the Education Act 2002.[HL4585]
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