Protecting children from adults is a social and legal imperative and a raft of legislation produced both within and outside the United Kingdom reflects this sad fact. Many different laws exist to shield children from physical, sexual and emotional harm, whether it be in the home environment or from the wider community or cyberspace. There is no single piece of legislation but there are laws amended by new legislation passed by Westminster for England and in devolved governments; the Welsh Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly and the Scottish Parliament. Not all laws cover the whole of the United Kingdom and legal systems vary in the different countries (Figure 35.1)

The Laming Report 2003 following the death of Victoria Climbie in 2002 led to Every Child Matters and subsequently the 2004 Children Act amendment of the integration of children’s services.

Following the tragic events at Soham in 2002, the Bichard Inquiry (2004) set up the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (2006). Reviewed in 2011, this saw the Protection of Freedoms Act set up in May 2012 which deals with vetting, barring and disclosure. This covers England and Wales only. The equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland is Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007, and in Scotland Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007.

Munro Report

Following the death of Peter Connolly in 2007 there was an independent review of child social work and child protection in England (2010) which led to the Department for Education and Skills’ (2011) Munro Review of child protection: final report, and the Department for Education’s (2011) A child-centred system, the Government’s response to the Munro Review. The five main headings are to develop:

1. 1 A system that values professional expertise
   
2. 2 Clarifying accountabilities and improving learning
   
3. 3 Sharing responsibility for the provision of early help
   
4. 4 Developing social work expertise
   
5. 5 The organizational context: supporting effective social work practice.