---

Child Protection

I start by saying that I welcome the fact of this debate but regret the tone of it, which was set by the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton). We genuinely wanted a cross-party consensus that would demonstrate to the outside world the importance we all ascribe to keeping our children safe. We hoped that we could agree across the House on what more needs to be done to ensure, as far as we possibly can, that the safety and protection of children are as good, reliable and consistent as they can be. We are building on the fact that this Government have done more than any other to protect children, with the critical reforms in the Children Act 2004, the Every Child Matters programme and the establishment of multi-agency children's trusts and local safeguarding children boards. All have transformed the local arrangements for prevention, early intervention and the robust inter-agency responses necessary when children are at risk. I am not complacent, however, and we need to keep a relentless focus on how well those reforms are implemented in every local area. We will not tolerate a postcode lottery in safeguarding. We have to ensure that every single child everywhere has that most basic of rights: a safe childhood. In the majority of areas, as Ofsted has shown us, things are moving in the right direction, but we need to ensure that that continues. No Government can guarantee 100 per cent. safety, as my right hon. Friend the Member for North-West Durham (Hilary Armstrong) pointed out, but that definitely should be our goal. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has already outlined the progress made in the last 10 years, and acknowledged the serious concerns following the tragic death of baby P and the action that we have taken since. We have to ensure that every children's trust performs to the highest standard, which is why we are strengthening them legally. We are awaiting Lord Laming's report, and we expect further improvements from the work of the social work taskforce. Where areas fall behind, as in Haringey and elsewhere, we will continue to take swift, decisive action, including in Surrey. I have to say that I cannot understand the failure of the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) to respond to my genuine invitation to give him a briefing on the serious situation in Surrey. I would have thought that he would be interested in the implications of the inadequacies that exist for the children of Surrey. Together with his failure to lead the debate, that will call into question the Tories' commitment to child protection. It was a serious error of judgment. Members raised three key issues, the first of which was the work force. I say to the Opposition that there are issues to consider in relation to the work force, but that their freedom of information figures include not just social workers but everybody in the social care work force. They therefore inflate the vacancy rate, which is at a national average of 9.5 per cent.—too high, but not as high as the Opposition cited. There was also a rise of 39 per cent. in the number of full-time equivalent social workers employed between 1998 and 2007. I agree that improving the status, training and practice of social workers is key to the further reforms that are needed. I agree with my hon. Friends the Members for Huddersfield (Mr. Sheerman) and for Sheffield, Heeley (Meg Munn) that it is very important that we have that highly trained work force. That is why, in addition to the measures that we have already taken, the social work taskforce is helping us to focus on what needs to take place on the front line. My right hon. Friend the Member for North-West Durham pointed out the importance of prevention and early intervention, which are very much part of child protection. She has championed the family nurse practitioners whom we are now funding and the huge investment in services for the under-fives, which was not in place pre-1997. That is very important in making a big difference to children and their safety. The third key point that was raised was the importance of data, information sharing and joint working. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield for pointing that out. Every inquiry into the death or serious harming of a child since the case of Maria Colwell in 1974, when I was just starting out on postgraduate training as a probation officer, has pinpointed the failure to share information and the failure of professionals to act together as key factors in failing to safeguard those children. That is why ContactPoint is so essential.