Continued Petitions

The next petition is PE1551, by Scott Pattinson, on mandatory reporting of child abuse. The briefing paper sets out the background and previous actions on the petition.

In December 2015, the committee agreed that it would wait for the United Kingdom Government to consult and for the Scottish Government to respond to that consultation. A summary of that consultation and the UK Government’s action was published in March 2018.

The Minister for Children and Young People wrote to the committee in October 2018 to advise it that

“As things currently stand, the Scottish Government will not introduce legislation making mandatory reporting a legal requirement.”

There are a number of reasons for that, which include the reason that, following consideration of the evidence and views raised in the consultation, the Scottish Government agrees that the case for a mandatory reporting duty or duty to act has not been made. That appears to echo the content of submissions that the committee received. The majority of organisations that made submissions did not appear supportive of mandatory reporting. They cited concerns that a move towards mandatory reporting may have significant unintended consequences and that the current legislation should be given time to bed in and to be used to its full extent.

The petitioner has responded to the committee. He made some observations in his submission, but he also stated that that was his final submission.

Do members have any comments or suggestions for action?

A lot of work has been taken forward on trying to understand the impact on survivors of abuse and supporting survivors. The inquiry into child abuse is part of that work, but there are broader issues for people who have been abused in a family setting. We have to decide whether the proposal would help that work or make a difference rather than saying whether that is simply the way in which we will support survivors. We do not want people to think that, because we did not necessarily support the petition, we do not recognise the terrible challenges that survivors of abuse still live with, often into adulthood. I was very struck by the fact that such a wide range of people did not think that the particular approach of mandatory reporting would help.

I note that the Minister for Children and Young People, in her written submission in October 2018, said:

“Officials will continue to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the Scottish child protection system working closely with stakeholders and any relevant U.K. Government officials.”

It gives me some confidence that she did not simply say that there is no issue and she recognised that the Government must constantly be open to ways in which the child protection system could be made more effective.

As there are no further comments, are we suggesting that we close the petition, recognising that the petitioner can of course petition the committee again at a later stage? In closing the petition, we recognise that the Scottish Government has said that it is involved in a great deal of activity on this issue and that it has committed to continuing to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the child protection system.

Are we agreed that we will close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders, on the basis that there does not appear to be any support for the action that is called for in the petition, although there is clear evidence that there is recognition across the Parliament and far beyond of the importance of being alive to child abuse issues and the need for a robust child protection system?

Members indicated agreement.