Children: Ministerial Responsibility
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to recommendation 3 of The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published in October 2022, what recent discussions she has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the potential merits of creating a new Cabinet Minister for Children.
Government answer
In April, the Government published the ‘Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update’ which sets out the action this Government is taking in response to the recommendations in IICSA’s final report, alongside broader steps to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation.
As set out in the Progress Update, the Government agrees with the importance of having a clear focus on children across Government, including at Cabinet level. The Secretary of State for Education is the Cabinet minister for children. A new Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will also drive and mainstream the strong collective cross Government focus on children’s wellbeing, safety and opportunity. This will bring together Ministers from the Government departments with a key role on issues affecting children.
The Progress Update also sets out the Government’s commitment to create a Child Protection Authority for England to help make the child protection system clearer, more unified and to ensure there is ongoing improvement through effective evidence-based support. The Progress Update sets out the next steps the Government will take to establish a Child Protection Authority, which will build on the foundation of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.