Government mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse proposals a ‘fudge’ – Alexis Jay

Plans to introduce mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse in England and Wales have been watered down, claims the chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

Alexis Jay says amendments made by the government to the Criminal Justice Bill in May are “a fudge and an opportunity missed”.

She said: “I am deeply disappointed… and very much more so for the victims and survivors who had such high expectations that what the inquiry had recommended was going to be implemented.”

Concern is centred on ‘duty to report’ clauses. The original inquiry recommendations called for it to be made a criminal offence for professionals in a position of trust – including social workers – to fail to report child sex abuse (CSA).

Amendments to the bill, particularly Gov NC65 ‘Duty to report child sex offences’, have attracted criticism, with campaigners warning that a ‘duty’ does not amount to a criminal sanction.

Jonathan West, director of CSA campaign group Mandate Now, said: “In the legislation there is no criminal or other sanction for failing to report. So even though it uses the word “must” there is no force behind it. This is not mandatory reporting. It is a waste of parliamentary time, putting new words on the status quo.

"Further, there is no limit in the wording to the duration of the delay in someone reporting abuse – it is for as long as the potential reporter believes it is in the child's best interest to delay. In effect this permits an indefinite delay."

Campaigners also claim the bill has watered down the reporting of abuse by requiring only “hard evidence” – seeing the abuse, photos of it, or actual disclosure – rather than suspicions or indicators of abuse, which are commonly experienced in social work.

Michael Causton, of Voices Unbound, a support group for survivors of abuse at private schools, said: “The measures are a sham – worse than useless. 

“A legally binding duty to report child abuse cannot work unless it includes the duty to report suspicions or indicators of abuse. 

“Confining the legislation to the reporting only of sexual abuse, contrary to the advice of the NSPCC, leaves children in institutions vulnerable to violence, neglect and psychological abuse and may prevent whistleblowers from acting.”

The Local Government Association (LGA) pointed to the inquiry’s original recommendation that all people in positions of trust – including those who work with children in sports or religious settings – should be subject to the duty. 

It said: “These roles are not currently in scope. Given the inquiry’s findings about abuse in these settings, we believe that excluding these roles is a significant omission and it is vital that they are included."

The background

Mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse was initially put forward under the Serious Crimes Bill in 2014.

However, following consultation, the Department for Education ruled out changing the law. It warned doing so could create “risk averse behaviour driven by fear of sanctions” increasing referrals and creating a “needle in a haystack effect”, making it harder to identify real cases.

It also said mandatory reporting could increase interventions in family life causing disengagement and put people off disclosing abuse if they knew workers legally had to report it.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), however, disagreed. It claimed mandatory reporting was “of significant public interest” in the face of the under-reporting of child sexual abuse.

Earlier this year, the government said it would adopt the IICSA’s recommendation, prompting concern from some quarters within social work of "unintended consequences".

Professor June Thoburn, emeritus professor of social work at the University of East Anglia, said: “While such a law may seem appealing, legitimate concerns have been highlighted by people with experience of working with children.

“These include unintended consequences such as a lowering of the threshold for reporting, causing a steep rise in referrals clogging up the system.

“There are also concerns about professionals feeling compelled to make referrals against the wishes of people they are working with, which could result in young people keeping abuse hidden.”

John Pearce, former president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services, said: “Many professionals already face serious sanctions if they knowingly fail to pass on information about suspected abuse, and that is right.

"There is no evidence that mandatory reporting would provide greater protections for children or improve their outcomes. It is important that any potential unintended consequences are considered such as the risks of overwhelming the systems already in place to protect children and our staff."

He claimed introduction of a similar duty in Australia led to a significant increase in contacts with social services, the majority of which were unsubstantiated.

Government response

The Home Office claims mandatory reporting will create a legal requirement for those taking part in regulated activities to report if they witness child sexual abuse or a child discloses sexual abuse.

A spokesperson said: “We are also creating a new criminal offence which will apply where anyone deliberately tries to stop a report of child sexual abuse being made under the mandatory reporting duty.

“Anyone, including those who are not engaged in regulated professions, found guilty of this offence could face up to seven years’ imprisonment.”