Moved by
Baroness Brinton
108: After Clause 67, insert the following new Clause—
“Duty to report child sexual abuse
(1) Where a provider of activities in a school-age educational setting has reasonable grounds for knowing or suspecting the commission of sexual abuse of children who are in their care, they have a duty to report their knowledge or suspicion as soon as practicable to—
(a) the local authority designated officer (LADO),
(b) children’s services, or
(c) such other single point of contact with the local authority as designated by that authority for the purpose of reporting the knowledge or suspicion of sexual abuse of children.
(2) The duty in subsection (1) applies whether the abuse has taken place in the setting of the regulated activity or elsewhere.
(3) The duty under subsection (1) applies to—
(a) the operators of a setting in which the activity takes place;
(b) staff employed in any such setting in a managerial or general welfare role;
(c) all other employed, contracted or voluntary staff and assistants only for the period of time during which they have had direct personal contact with such a child.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (1) children are in the care of providers of regulated activities—
(a) in the case of the operators of any setting in which the regulated activity takes place and of staff employed by the operators at any such setting in a managerial or general welfare role, for the period of time during which the operators are bound contractually or otherwise to accommodate or care for such children whenever the regulated activity is provided, and
(b) in the case of all other employed or contracted staff or voluntary staff and assistants, for the period of time only in which they are personally attending such children in the capacity for which they were employed or their services were contracted for.
(5) A person who fails to fulfil the duty in subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.
(6) It is a defence to show that the LADO, children’s services or other single point of contact was informed by any other party of the commission or suspected commission of sexual abuse.
(7) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(8) A person who makes a report under subsection (1) in good faith, or who does any other act as required by this section, cannot by so doing be held liable in any civil or criminal or administrative proceeding, and cannot be held to have breached any code of professional etiquette or ethics, or to have departed from any acceptable form of professional conduct.
(9) A person who causes or threatens to cause any detriment to a person to whom subsection (1) applies, or to another person, either wholly or partly related to the person’s actual or intended provision of a report under this Act, is guilty of an offence.
(10) In subsection (9) “detriment” includes any personal, social, economic, professional, or other detriment to the person.
(11) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (9) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(12) In this section—
“children” means persons who have not attained the age of 18 years;
“providers of activities” has the same meaning as in section 6 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, in so far as the activity takes place in a school-age educational setting.”