Written question asked by Paul Marsden (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 20 November 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 27 November 2002. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Wednesday, 27 November 2002 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children have been taken into protective custody in connection with paedophilia in each year since 1997. - Includes fact that information not held centrally.

Answer: Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children have been taken into protective custody in connection with paedophilia in each year since 1997. [83176] Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not held centrally. However, information is held centrally about the number of children looked after by local councils. From the year ending 31 March 2001, this information is collected by age and category of need, which records the main reason why the child requires assistance from his/ her local social services department. One of the categories of need is abuse or neglect. However, this category spans all types of abuse and neglect and provides no information about the characteristics of the alleged abusers of the children.

Secondary information