Child protection in Staffordshire

Some weeks ago we sent a child protection referral to Staffordshire county council following the chief inspector’s report into the forcible strip searching and videoing of a child in Werrington prison. I got reply. Apparently the council doesn’t think it has to bother to investigate properly because the threshold of harm has not been crossed. Forcibly stripping a child is, according the child protection experts in Staffordshire, a legal and proportionate response. We can all rest happy that the child did not, I am comfortingly told, sustain any physical injuries. There is no discussion about whether he was traumatised or felt that he had been assaulted or even sexually assaulted.

The letter says that the strip searching of children in prison is compliant with Prison Service Standards. So, as long as the Prison Service sets its own rules and abides by them, they can do what they like. It appears that normal child protection can be blithely ignored by children’s services.

We are considering taking this further.

By the way, on an entirely more cheerful note. Vote for Alesha.

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December 14, 2007 · matthewcain · 2 Comments
Posted in: Campaigns