With the Conservatives returning to power this month, their
continued focus on fiscal austerity will mean more government spending cuts on
state-provided services. Child welfare has already been badly hit by drastic
cuts to the family justice and social work sectors in a bid to reduce
government debt. Will this second round of austerity measures irreparably
damage our child welfare system, or will it be the wake up call we need to work
together to protect children’s fundamental human rights and the democratic
process?
The announcement
of David Cameron’s new cabinet has unveiled tensions which are likely to play
out inside the family sector. Whilst Theresa May remains Home Secretary, and
will continue to oversee the nation’s Statutory Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse
(SICSA), the appointment of Michael Gove as Justice Secretary will bring old
conflicts to the surface, which could harm the sector.
As Education
Secretary, Gove and May came head to head over the topic of extremism in
schools, a disagreement that Gove will not have forgotten – he had to publicly
apologise for his conduct over the matter. As Justice Secretary, Gove will be
tasked with managing prisons, sentencing and
criminal justice, areas which overlap with Theresa May’s brief at the home
office. It would be almost impossible to
imagine Gove and May’s professional rivalry will not at some point cause more
chaos and confusion inside the child welfare sector. That Gove’s appointment
also appears to be a tactical move to block Theresa May in the next leadership
contest says more about the self serving nature of politics today, than it does
about democracy.
The erosion of
democracy in the UK and its impact can be no better witnessed than inside the
child welfare sector. Whilst Chris Grayling was Justice Secretary, legal aid
was removed for all but a tiny selection of cases. The ‘lucky few’ who are now
eligible for legal aid, such as those involved in domestic violence and child
neglect matters must show specific forms of evidence in order to access this
aid. That most vulnerable men, women and children trapped inside violent relationships
and cycles of neglect rarely have the support they need to document their abuse
is a cruel irony lost on the current government, and of course, its
predecessor.
Whilst the
Conservatives have pledged to protect spending on the NHS, education and
international aid,
they may have to
make deep cuts elsewhere
in order to reduce borrowing back to sustainable levels. And they will do that
by making cuts to ‘unprotected’ departments, of which social care is one.
The social work sector is understandably worried about
the implications of further cuts, but this is not the only concern being voiced
inside the sector. Fears over a renewed fervour to extend the criminal
offence of wilful neglect to include children’s social care are also mounting. If
the law is extended in this way, as proposed by the previous government, social
workers could face up to five years in prison for failing to protect children
from sexual exploitation and neglect.
