New Children's Register

Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, today welcomed the Government’s announcement of a new register of all children in England. She said the giant database, which will hold the names of all 11 million children in England by 2008, could help to improve child protection and was a victory for those who have long called for better registration and monitoring of vulnerable children.

Diane said: “I welcome this announcement and think it is a victory for the pressure I have put on Government ministers to end the scandal of missing children, in particular black boys. In one three month period alone 300 African and Caribbean boys between the ages of four and seven went missing from London schools. There is no means of tracing them. I hope doctors and social workers will make use of this new index to raise concerns about vulnerable children’s well-being and whereabouts.”

Diane added: “This register is long overdue. The inquiry into Victoria Climbie’s death recommended the creation of such a register to avert any similar tragedies in the future.  Hopefully improved information sharing will help us to ensure social services can do their job much more effectively and intervene sooner in cases where children are mistreated.”

Diane concluded: “We will, however, have to monitor the implementation of this index closely to make sure that it achieves the desired goals. We also have to ensure that only the appropriate professionals will have access to the personal information stored on the system.”

 

 

back ⇢