Law on child neglect in 'urgent need of reform'

Neglect remains the most common form of child abuse across the UK. It affects all aspects of a child's development: health, emotional and social, and in some cases leads to the death of a child, due to lack of care or supervision. Although well understood amongst the social work profession, child neglect is largely overlooked by the criminal law in England and Wales, and the new parliamentary session presents a real opportunity to change this.

The criminal law on child neglect was written in 1933 and is in urgent need of reform. It is out of step with modern understanding of parenting, the causes and effects of neglect, and ways to tackle the problem through early intervention and prevention. Above all, the criminal law does not meet its purpose of protecting children from neglect, and should therefore be reviewed as a matter of urgency.

The criminal offence contains a number of out-dated definitions of neglect, particularly omitting the emotional and developmental harm caused to children, and only allows for an offence of 'wilful neglect', when we know that harm is often done to children unintentionally, particularly through sustained neglect.

The current law also does nothing to prevent children from future harm, as the sentencing guidelines only criminalise parents through imprisonment or a caution. This leaves no room for parenting education or rehabilitation to prevent further abuse and keep families together. There has been a three-fold increase in detected criminal cases of child neglect in the last decade (there were 2,172 cases in 2010), and we would like to see a response to this that is in the best long-term interests of children and families.

Action for Children recently conducted a poll of parents which revealed that 72 per cent think there is no common understanding of what 'good enough' parenting is, whilst two-thirds (66 per cent) think that a clear law that can be understood by all would help with parenting. As the current law does not clarify in any detail what actually constitutes neglect, nor establishes the positive opposite or alternative, it does nothing to educate parents about acceptable standards of parenting, and should be reformed to change this.

Reforming the law on child neglect is vital if we are to protect children from the harm of neglect. This is a sensitive and complex matter, that will require careful consideration over time, but the government should make a commitment in the Queen's Speech to review Section 1 of the Children and Young Person's Act 1933, to begin the process of reform of this law before its 80th Anniversary.