Emotional abuse of children to become criminal offence

The intention to create the new offence through a Serious Crime Bill was one of a number of legislative goals affecting children and young people outlined at the state opening of parliament yesterday.

The government also wants to strengthen powers to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking, ensure all infant children receive free school meals, extend free childcare to the most disadvantaged two-year-olds and give families more help with childcare costs.

In order to outlaw emotional abuse, the Serious Crime Bill will clarify the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 to make it explicit that cruelty likely to cause psychological harm to a child is an offence.

Sir Tony Hawkhead, chief executive of Action for Children, which has campaigned for a change in child neglect laws in England and Wales for the past three years, said the proposal marks a “monumental and overdue step forward for children and our efforts to protect”.

“Children who are made to feel worthless, powerless and unloved by their families will now have the law on their side,” he said.

“Emotional abuse can create permanent scars, leading to mental health problems and, in extreme cases, to suicide. This legislation will change lives.”

Matthew Reed, chief executive of The Children’s Society, said the current law on neglect is “outdated and woefully inadequate”.

“It is critical that the police are given the powers necessary to prosecute anybody who commits emotional cruelty to children which will bring the law into line with the criminal offence of physical neglect,” he added.

David Simmonds, chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, said emotional abuse is currently the second most common category of registration for children on a child protection plan, indicating the extent to which social workers are already acting to protect children from this type of abuse.

“No child should remain in an unsafe or neglectful environment, and councils will not hesitate to intervene when children are thought to be at risk,” he said.

But he also warned against the potential for vulnerable victims of domestic abuse being “doubly victimised” by both their abuser and the courts should their child be found to be suffering emotional neglect.

However, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) warned that there is no evidence to suggest a change in the law will prevent further instances of neglect from occurring.

Alan Wood, president of the ADCS, said: “Any change to the law must build on existing work to prevent, identify and respond to neglect to ensure that in a time of increasing demand and a greater prevalence, the needs of children are effectively met.” 

The Modern Slavery Bill will introduce a requirement for victims of child trafficking to be given personal advocates in a bid to stop gangs hauling them back into prostitution and crime.

It will also create a new anti-slavery commissioner to ensure law enforcement is doing all it can to tackle the crime, and create a statutory duty for public bodies including the police, local authorities and immigration personnel to notify the National Crime Agency about potential victims of modern slavery.

Javed Khan, chief executive of Barnardo’s, which will provide child advocates, said the bill is a “defining moment in the battle against trafficking”.

“Barnardo’s welcomes steps to better support trafficked children through an advocate scheme and are delighted to have been chosen to deliver the pilot to start in September,” he said.

“The acute vulnerability of trafficked children can be compounded by inappropriate criminalisation for their involvement in the activities of their abusers.

“Putting in place measures to ensure children are protected and not punished is vitally important to help them escape exploitation.”

Chloe Setter, head of advocacy, policy and campaigns at Ecpat UK, said law enforcement measures alone will not wipe out child trafficking.

“Urgent measures are needed in this bill to ensure child victims of trafficking are better protected and more traffickers are punished for the cruel and damaging abuse they inflict on some of the most vulnerable young people in the UK and abroad,” she said.

Meanwhile, a Childcare Payments Bill will be introduced to help working families with childcare costs giving support equivalent to basic rate tax relief on money spent on childcare by working parents, up to a maximum of £2,000 per year for each child.

Dr Hilary Emery, chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau said that while the state-funded childcare subsidy is to be welcomed, it will be better-off families who are able to spend £10,000 a year on childcare that will benefit most.

“What is more, while this support will enable parents to take paid work, more needs to be done to ensure that the childcare available to them is of high quality: this is the only way to guarantee that children really benefit,” she said.

“We want to see a long-term plan to improve the training and qualifications of early years practitioners, and support for local authorities to champion the improvement of childcare in their area.”

Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said that if the new system is free to access and simple and effective to use, it could signal a positive step forward in efforts to improve the childcare offer.

The Queen’s Speech also outlined government plans to establish more academies and free schools, introduce further reforms to GCSEs and A-levels, and increase the total number of apprenticeships to two million by April 2015.