Amendment to Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill Withdrawn

Amendment 201 to Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill was withdrawn yesterday, (Thursday 5th).

Well that's a relief, at least for the moment, though we will have to keep an eye on this as it unfolds.

The proposed amendment to the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill (no. 201), was as follows:

201* Insert the following new Clause —

"Arrangements for seeing children separately

After section 16 of the Children Act 2004 (c. 31) (LSBs: supplementary) insert—

"16A Arrangements for seeing children separately

(1) The children's services authority shall secure that, when any child who is the subject of either—
(a) an investigation under section 47 of the Children Act 1989; or
(b) a child protection plan agreed by the Local Safeguarding Children Board,
and who is visited by his or her key worker, the child shall, if practicable and reasonable in the circumstances, be seen separately from his or her parent or care-giver.

(2) The key worker referred to in subsection (1) is—
(a) in the case of subsection (1)(a), the lead social worker appointed by the children's services authority; and
(b) in the case of subsection (1)(b), the key worker appointed by the Local Safeguarding Children Board."

The withdrawal of the above proposal (yesterday, Thursday 5th) is noted at the bottom here. It could well have been significant for HEors after all the recent misinformation about rates of abuse in the HE community, in that HE might, in the minds of some LA officials, be deemed a prime facie reason to think that there is "reasonable cause to suspect that a child who lives, or is found, in their area is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm" .