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BAAF statement following the publication of The Laming Report

Issued: 28 January 03

Leading childcare charity BAAF Adoption & Fostering today welcomed the publication of Lord Laming's report into the death of Victoria Climbie and urged the government to act now to improve the child protection system.

Felicity Collier, chief executive of BAAF Adoption & Fostering said:

"We welcome Lord Laming's thoughtful and insightful report into the tragic death of Victoria Climbie and urge the Government to act now to reform the child protection system and make it fit for the 21st century."

"We know that tens of thousands of children are protected every year as a result of the dedicated and thorough work of social work professionals. However, there have been too many instances where poor communication and joint working between professionals from different agencies has failed to prevent child abuse deaths. The Government is right to take urgent action to ensure that professionals with responsibility for looking after children work together more effectively. Protecting children must be made a clear priority for doctors, teachers and police, as well as for social workers."

On private fostering:

The Government must take forward Lord Laming's recommendation to review the law relating to private fostering. As Lord Laming says, the inconsistency between the regulations for private foster care and child minding is anomalous and must be addressed. Around 10,000 children in the UK are being cared for in private foster care arrangements. Most of these children are under the age of five and worryingly, the majority of these private arrangements are unknown to local social services departments leaving children vulnerable to abuse or neglect. As The Laming Report recommends, an approval system and register for private foster carers, similar to that used for child minders, would help protect the thousands of vulnerable children who are privately fostered in the UK.

On the appointment of a children's commissioner:

"One of the clear messages from Victoria's case is that children themselves need to be at the heart of any attempts to protect them from harm - this means listening to them and putting their needs first. We call on the Government to appoint a children's commissioner without further delay. BAAF and many other agencies have been calling for this for a number of years. We applaud Lord Laming's recommendation that a commissioner could oversee national standards for children's services, as well as being an advocate for children at the heart of the policy-making process."

The community is a fundamental part of the child protection system - neighbours are often the first to spot signs of family trouble long before any professional. We all need to take on the responsibility to look out for the children in our communities and the government must provide investment to enable this to happen.

On the crisis in social work:

One of the Government's key priorities must be to improve the status and training of social workers. The national vacancy rate for social workers is at an all time high and applicants for training have fallen dramatically over the last five years. Improved pay and conditions, increased resources and renewed efforts to attract the highest calibre recruits into the profession is vital if social workers are to be able to do their jobs properly. We will not learn to value children's lives until we value those entrusted with saving them.

Ends