Former DPP takes tough stance on child abuse

The former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Keir Starmer, says failing to report child abuse should be a criminal offence.

Mr Starmer said that doctors, priests, social workers and teachers should face a mandatory requirement to pass on information about such behaviour.

Mr Starmer, having stepped down after serving his five-year term, believes a “mandatory reporting” law, in which anyone who fails to report an incident could be jailed, is the best way forward.

Speaking on BBC Panorama, Mr Starmer outlined his proposals: “I think the time has come to change the law and close a gap that’s been there for a very long time.

“I think there should be a mandatory reporting provision. The problem is if you haven’t got a central provision requiring people to report, then all you can do is fall back on other provisions that aren’t really designed for that purpose and that usually means they run into difficulties.

“What you really need is a clear, direct law that everybody understands.”

Mr Starmer reached his conclusions after visiting the US and studying the system operating in Washington.

“They do have a mandatory reporting scheme, a very straightforward, simple scheme and something like that, I think, could work in this country,” he said.

Diana Johnson, Shadow Crime and Security Minister, echoed Mr Starmer’s calls for mandatory reporting.

She said: “We support professionals being under a clear duty to report child abuse to make sure we stop this heinous crime at the earliest opportunity.

“We must take the call of the retiring DPP for nurses and teachers to be under a legal duty to report allegations of child abuse very seriously. We must also examine whether all public service employees and others should be under a similar obligation.

“Looking at the practical experience of countries which already operate such a system is important, as well as working with all the professional bodies to create a better system of information sharing and training.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Mandatory reporting is not the answer. Guidance is already crystal clear that professionals should refer immediately to social care when they are concerned about a child.

“Other countries have tried mandatory reporting and there is no evidence to show that it is a better system for protecting children. In fact there is evidence to show it can make children less safe.”

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) remained non-committal on the issue. A spokesperson said: “There are strong arguments for and against mandatory reporting of child sex abuse but no definitive evidence that it will help to safeguard children. It is an important debate but ultimately the decision lies with legislators.”

Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of Action for Children, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are not convinced that making it mandatory will do what we need it to do.”

She said the reporting of child abuse in the UK was on the rise and that a “huge issue” was that “teachers and people across the system are not sufficiently trained to see those early signs of abuse”.

“It is important they know how to spot those signs and not to feel that they may be prosecuted if they don’t,” she added.