MPs criticise government over FGM sanctions

Stronger action against such failures was among key recommendations made in September by the home affairs select committee as part of its inquiry into FGM. The report suggested that "intentional or repeated failures" to report FGM could be made a criminal offence.

The committee heard evidence that NHS clinicians are sometimes failing to record cases even though mandatory reporting of FGM has been a legal requirement for more than a year.

But in its official response to the select committee's report, the government said it has no plans to introduce tougher penalties, adding that the current sanctions, whereby a health professional could be dismissed, are a sufficient deterrent.

The response states that the threat of dismissal is "in line with the approach favoured by the vast majority or respondents to the public consultation we ran prior to the duty's introduction."

Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who chairs the committee, has criticised the government's stance stating that "stronger sanctions" beyond general disciplinary procedures "were needed for those professionals who fail to report new cases to the police".

She reiterated the committee's belief that tougher measure are needed because there has not been a single successful FGM prosecution in the UK since it was made illegal over 30 years ago.

In July the first ever-recorded FGM figures for England found there were 5,702 new cases between April 2015 and March 2016.

Cooper added: "Other European countries have been far more effective in prosecuting this form of child abuse - the UK trails behind them in bringing those who perpetrate FGM to justice and we must do more."

However, the government's stance on sanctions has been welcomed by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Dr Deborah Hodes, a member of the body's child protection standing committee said government is "right to acknowledge mandatory responsibility on healthcare staff and the sanctions in place if cases aren't reported".

She added "there is no solid evidence to date which suggests that FGM is being ignored".

The home affairs committee's inquiry also recommended that personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education be made compulsory in all schools and include lessons specifically about FGM in areas of high risk.

This was also rejected by the government, which said schools should have the "autonomy to tailor their local PSHE programme to reflect the needs of their pupils".

Currently PSHE is only a legal requirement for maintained secondary schools, not free schools, academies or those in the primary sector.

The home affairs select committee was also one of five committees that wrote to Education Secretary Justine Greening earlier this week calling for PSHE to be made a requirement for all schools.

"The government should just get on with it - they have been resisting this basic measure for far too long and that is letting children and young women down," added Cooper.

The committee also called for "sufficient resources" for groups and campaigners working in communities where FGM is practised.

The government has said that £80m in extra funding has been made available to tackle violence against women and girls between now and 2020. It added that FGM was one of three priorities for bids for the Department for Education's £2.25m safeguarding voluntary sector grants for 2016 to 2018.