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The following press releases are printed 'as is.' The views expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor.
[Waterhouse
Report] [Cry calls for National Childcare
Register]
[ Nanny Agency Guidance Still Not Enough] [NSPCC
Calls Backed by CRY & PANN]
[New
Agency Regulations Welcome but of Limited Use] [Childcare
Regulations Inadequate]
WATERHOUSE
REPORT ON CHILD ABUSE IN NORTH WALES
Freedom to Care, which promotes freedom of speech in the workplace, says:
Management cultures are still putting children at risk.
We have evidence that senior managers are still putting the "good"
name of their council first, before the need to properly investigate and discipline
staff who abuse children.
Social Services managers have had to resign from a North Wales council because
they insisted that safe procedures were used for recruiting children's homes'
staff and that staff who abused a disabled child should be disciplined. Chief
Officers in Flintshire refused to support their complaints, intimidated them
and in 1997, removed them from their duties.
Their statements formed
part of the Waterhouse Tribunal evidence.
Now speaking for Freedom to Care, one of those whistleblowers,
Chris Clode says he believes things are no better than when he
was forced from his job. At the end of 1999, staff still working
for Flintshire, but too frightened to risk their jobs by speaking
out, passed further, similar allegations on to him. Chris has
passed on these latest allegations to be independently investigated
by the Audit Commission.
If Waterhouse recommends new laws, new procedures or the appointment
of a Commissioner for Children, this will not be enough if senior
management in local authorities like Flintshire and elsewhere
continue to suppress and conceal complaints on behalf of vulnerable
children and adults being harmed in council care. This will continue
to deter good staff who wish to speak out against harm and malpractice
by their colleagues. It needs a change from the present bully
culture of senior managers and councillors, if the changes called
for in the Nolan Report are to be carried out.
How can social services bosses be prepared to turn a blind eye
to staff who are harming some children- and yet remove other children
from their parents for inflicting the same type of harm?
For more information, contact Chris Clode, Tel: 01978-750583 Fax:
01978-756851 e.mail: clover.care@tesco.net
Freedom to Care will be covering the Waterhouse Report on its
website: www.freedomtocare.org
CRY CALLS FOR NATIONAL CHILDCARE REGISTER 16/02/00
Following the Waterhouse inquiry into child abuse at children's homes in North Wales, the Campaign for the Registration of Workers with Young People and Children (CRY) has renewed its call for a National Register of all adults working with children and young people. CRY is particularly concerned that some of the people named in the Lost in Care report as suspected child abusers are still at large.
Tricia Pritchard, Professional
Officer with PANN, Playpen Chairman and leader
of CRY's Publicity Group, said: "This report shows how it
is all too easy for
undesirable people to gain access to children and to wreak their
lives. It
seems that 28 former care workers named in the report are 'missing'.
They
could still be working with children.
"We need action now
to protect children, parents and childcarers. The
Government must establish a statutory National Register of all
childcarers to
close the loopholes in the law which allow anyone - even someone
with a
criminal record - to find work with children, especially as a
nanny.
"A Register could not
totally eradicate abuse, but by including police
checks, a requirement for a minimum standard of relevant qualifications
and
a complete work history, employers could make informed decisions.
It would
also stop unsuitable people moving around the country or between
types of
childcare to avoid detection."
CRY - which is made up of MPs Martin Salter
(Chairman), Jenny Jones and Julie Morgan, and representatives from the Professional
Association of Nursery
Nurses (PANN), Playpen (the campaign for nanny registration), Chiltern
College and ICSE (the Institute of Childcare and Social Education) - is
committed to reducing the abuse and mistreatment of children by adults who
are looking after them. CRY is deeply concerned that allegations of abuse
continue to come to light, both from the past and present and from various
areas of childcare.
- ENDS -
NANNY AGENCY GUIDANCE STILL NOT ENOUGH 17/01/00
Proposals on new guidance
for nanny agencies, announced today by the DfEE but
to be published in the Spring, have been described as "welcome
but still not
enough" by the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses
(PANN).
Tricia Pritchard, Professional
Officer with PANN, Chairman of the Playpen
Campaign for Nanny Registration and leader of the Publicity Group
of CRY
(Campaign for the Registration of Workers with Young People and
Children),
said: "We welcome guidance which promotes good practice in
nanny agencies,
especially in areas such as checking candidates' identities and
backgrounds
where many agencies have failed in the past.
"However, such guidance
does not go far enough to protect children, parents
and genuine, professional nannies. According to FRES (Federation
of
Recruitment and Employment Services), only 30% of parents hire
nannies
through agencies. There are therefore 70% of employers recruiting
nannies
directly. Most parents will therefore not be helped by these measures.
"By looking at agencies only, the Government is again failing to regulate the individuals who have access to children in the children's own homes.
"There must be a statutory National
Register of all childcarers to close the
loopholes in the law which allow anyone - even someone with a criminal record
- to find work with children. A Register would include police checks, a
requirement for a minimum standard of relevant qualifications, and a complete
work history so that employers could make informed decisions. It would also
stop unsuitable people moving around the country or between types of
childcare to avoid detection."
- ENDS -
NSPCC CALLS BACKED BY CRY AND PANN 10/01/00
Calls by the NSPCC for stricter
controls to protect children in care have
been backed by campaigners for a national childcare register.
CRY (Campaign
for the Registration of Workers with Young People and Children)
- which
includes the Playpen Campaign for Nanny Registration, the Professional
Association of Nursery Nurses (PANN), the Institute of Childcare
and Social
Education (ICSE) and MPs - is supporting the NSPCC's demands for
measures
such as an independent care watchdog with statutory powers, "safe
adult
friend" visitors for children in care, and early implementation
of the
Criminal Records Bureau.
Tricia Pritchard, Professional
Officer with PANN, Playpen Chairman and leader of CRY's Publicity
Group, said: "The NSPCC has highlighted how it is still
all too easy for undesirable people to gain access to children.
We support
its calls for tighter controls.
"When it is set up,
the Criminal Records Bureau will be a step in the right
direction, but it will not go far enough to protect children.
We are in
favour of giving childcare employers much more information about
a job
applicant's background, including any criminal records. The Home
Secretary
has said it will take 'two years' to establish the Bureau. We
need action now to protect children, parents and childcarers.
"We also need a statutory National
Register of all childcarers to close the
loopholes in the law which allow anyone - even someone with a criminal record
- to find work with children. A Register would include police checks, a
requirement for a minimum standard of relevant qualifications, and a complete
work history so that employers could make informed decisions. It would also
stop unsuitable people moving around the country or between types of
childcare to avoid detection."- ENDS -
NEW AGENCY REGULATIONS WELCOME BUT OF LIMITED USE
DTI proposals to give children
extra protection against unsuitable agency
workers have been welcomed by the Professional Association of
Nursery Nurses
(PANN). However, the Association - which represents around 5,000
nursery
nurses, nannies and other childcarers - believes that the proposed
regulations will have only limited effect and that unsuitable
people will
still be able to work in family homes.
PANN Professional Officer
Tricia Pritchard, who is also Chairman of the
Playpen Campaign for Nanny Registration, said: "We are in
favour of giving
childcare employers much more information about a job applicant's
background.
"However, we will continue to argue for a compulsory National
Register of
nannies and all individual childcarers. Tightening the regulations
on agency
staff will not protect children whose parents chose to hire nannies
direct
and not through an agency. According to FRES (Federation of Recruitment
and
Employment Services), only 30% of parents hire nannies through
agencies.
"We still need a National
Register of all childcarers to close the loophole
in the law which allows anyone - even someone with a criminal
record - to
call themselves a 'nanny' and work unsupervised with children.
The Register
should include police checks, a requirement for a minimum standard
of
relevant qualifications, and a complete work history so that employers
can
make informed decisions."
PANN will respond fully to the consultation when it receives more details.
- ENDS -
CHILDCARE REGULATIONS INADEQUATE 03/12/99
Childcare regulation arrangements
announced today (3 December) with the
publication of the Care Standards Bill have been criticised by
the
Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) and its Professional
Association
of Nursery Nurses (PANN) section.
Professional Officer (Primary
and Early Years) Alison Johnston said:
"Bringing together early years regulation and inspection
under one roof makes sense, but Ofsted in its present form is
not up to the job. The Government's
own Better Regulation Task Force, when it recommended such an
integration,
stated that Ofsted should not play the lead role due to its lack
of
expertise in the area of care. Our members are also concerned
that Ofsted is
not competent in child protection.
"When we asked our
teacher and nursery nurse members about their experiences
of Ofsted inspections* they reported incidents of inspectors wanting
to hear
four year olds read and asking about homework for three year olds!
Ofsted
must recruit inspectors with early years experience.
"The new funding for
childcare is welcome, but where will the qualified staff come
from to fill all these childcare places? Quality training cannot
be
provided in such a short space of time.
"Consistent national
standards of checks on people working with children over 8 are
long overdue and should give greater protection to children and
peace
of mind for parents, but what about younger children cared for
at home? There are over 100,000 people out there who work as nannies
and they are currently
not subject to any form of regulation. Professional, qualified
nannies, the children they look after and the children's parents
deserve the protection of a national childcare register. This
would provide checks on, and information
about, all childcarers."
Notes: *Looking up the Microscope:
a survey of teachers', lecturers' and
nursery nurses' perceptions of the school and college inspection
systems
(PAT, 1999). The initial responses were used by PAT in its written
evidence
(The Work of Ofsted) to the House of Commons Education and Employment
Committee Inquiry into Ofsted. The Committee published PAT's evidence
as part of its report.
- ENDS -