Ill-Treatment of Children at Home
In the Commons debate last December on the ill-treatment of children in their own homes there emerged a general demand for an inquiry, and the Home Secretary promised to set Up a committee if the working-party studying the problem thought it advisable. Last month he stated in the House that the working-party (repre- senting the Home Office and the Ministries of Health and Education) had advised against a committee or an extension of statutory powers, and the Government would urge greater use of the services available. The three departments have now sent a letter to local authorities suggesting that they should appoint officers to co-ordinate these services ; that regular meetings of statutory and voluntary bodies should be held and cases of ill-treatment reported and dis- cussed. Certainly the contact between the many interested organisa- tions is a wise step ; social workers are constantly complaining of the numbers of official or semi-official visitors calling on problem- families and unaware of each other's existence. But to put the onus on local authorities, even though they are asked to report to the Home Office on their arrangements, may leave things very much as they were in backward areas. It is obviously difficult to interfere between parent and child ; but the constant Press reports of cruelty and the facts mentioned in December—that the thousand or so annual court cases represent only about a sixth of cases investigated and that appearance in court may be the climax of years of ill- treatment—point to the need for energetic action.
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