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Hansard Debate - statutory guidance on interviewing children
This bit is chilling:(
5 May 2009 : Column 76
I looked into the matter covered by the Hon. Lady’s new clause 20 in detail
when I read it. Our belief is that, aside from the odd drafting issue about
the exact role of the key worker, which we do not need to go into today, the
existing statutory law and guidance in the Children Acts 1989 and 2004
achieves the objectives that she sets out. The statutory guidance is clear
that section 47 of the 1989 Act should always involve a social worker
undertaking separate interviews with the child wherever appropriate. It is
also clear that seeing the child alone is not enough, and that the child
must be observed interacting with their family and, if appropriate, with
other adults or care givers. We will revise that statutory guidance later in
the year to make it absolutely clear that if at any point the parents refuse
to allow the child to be seen alone, the local authority has powers under
that Act to apply for an emergency protection order to require parents to
comply with any request to produce the child. The Act authorises the removal
of a child in those circumstances if necessary. Current statute therefore
provides the powers that the Hon. Lady seeks in the new clause.
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This is about this:
Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 places a duty on Local
Authorities to make enquiries into the circumstances of children considered to be at risk of ‘significant harm’ and, where these enquiries indicate the need, to undertake a full Investigation into the child’s circumstances.
http://www.oldham.gov.uk/investigation_assessment___protection.pdf
In our case it looks as if we don't register we will be breaking the law and there will be an assumption of our children being at risk.
The Section 47 Duty to Investigate would then lead to what is described by Ed Balls above.
As he says, there is no need to make a new law, they just need to put us in a situation where they can enact the existing guidance that is probably only used when there is ACUTAL evidence that a child is being abused.