The Home Office has stated its intention to implement a legal requirement for “anyone in regulated activity relating to children in England, including teachers or healthcare professionals, to report it if they know a child is being sexually abused”.
The new measures are to be introduced as amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament.
The new mandatory reporting rules could see anyone failing to report being barred from working with children and young people.
The proposed new rules also state that anyone who actively protects child sexual abusers – by intentionally blocking others from reporting or covering up a crime – could go to prison for seven years.
The proposals are a response to a key recommendation from the recent Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
The seven-year investigation heard evidence from more than 6,200 victims and survivors. It found that most victims and survivors first experienced sexual abuse at primary school age (67%); 52% also experienced other forms of abuse as well as sexual abuse, almost half of victims and survivors were abused by a family member and 12% were abused by a teacher or member of educational staff.
The family home was where abuse happened most often, with schools being the second most frequently reported location.
Headteacher Update’s resident safeguarding expert Elizabeth Rose has previous written about the IICSA’s findings and how schools can respond. Find this article here.
However, the Home Office announcement has sparked a warning that wider police and children’s social services must have the capacity to deal with potential increases in the numbers of referrals that the new duty could create.
The National Association of Head Teachers has said that if sufficient funding is not in place, then the knock-on effect could be raised thresholds for intervention.
General secretary Paul Whiteman said: “School leaders take children’s safety incredibly seriously and invest time and funding in training and resources to support efforts to tackle all forms of child sexual abuse. They already have a range of statutory duties when it comes to safeguarding and are frequently inspected against these.
“However, schools rely on a wide range of other services when reporting concerns. We are concerned about the current capacity of services like children’s social care and the police to provide children with the help they need should mandatory reporting lead to an increase in referrals being made.
“It’s vital the government provides these services with sufficient funding to ensure they can cope with demand and are not forced to raise thresholds for intervention.”
Gabrielle Shaw, chief executive for the National Association for People Abused in Childhood said: “The introduction of mandatory reporting is a big step in the right direction, which must be implemented alongside an approach that prioritises the wellbeing of the child and ensures they have access to on-going, specialist support. This will require investment in training requirements, wider supporting structures and effective tracking and review.”
Chair of the IICSA, Professor Alexis Jay, said: “I look forward to working with the home secretary on the detail of this as the bill progresses.”
Minister for victims and safeguarding Laura Farris added: “By bringing into force a mandatory duty to report child sexual abuse – the IICSA’s principal recommendation – we are sending a clear message that children will never be let down whether in schools, sports settings or any supervised environment.”
Mandatory reporting is already in place for female genital mutilation (FGM) meaning that teachers “must personally report to the police cases where they discover that an act of FGM appears to have been carried out” as set out in the statutory safeguarding guidance Keeping children safe in education.