Journey to appointing Children's Commissioner.......

In 1987 Alison Taylor was dismissed from her position in Gwynedd County Council. She had worked in their child services department since 1976, and throughout her time working in this area she had many concerns about the children living in residential care.
Alison Taylor made numerous attempts to raise these concerns, her superior showed little action or interest. Her next point of call was to the management at the county council, however as her superior was married to one of the Heads at the council, Alison Taylor took action by reporting the abuse to the Local Police.
Following this, Alison Taylor was suspended from her work place and eventually dismissed.

The police enquiry led to the lost in care investigation. The report that followed showed that the allegations of child abuse that Alison Taylor made were correct. The children in that lived in many residential homes in North Wales were subjected to physical, mental and sexual abuse.  The Waterhouse report was published in February 2000. The report has been criticised for only using specific homes and areas; however the cases of abuse found gave waterhouse grounds to make recommendations to improve the care system. These recommendations included, the duty to report abuse, regular visits to each child by a field social worker and the appointment of a Children’s commissioner.

By the time the Report was completed in 2000, the Government had brought the Child Protection Act 1999 into legislation. This was said to have addressed some of the issues. The bravery that Alison Taylor showed, and was condemned for, also brought to light the need for new whistleblowing procedures. In 2001, following the Lost in care investigation, the Welsh Children's Commissioner was appointed, with North Ireland following suit in 2003.

Victoria Climbie, was another victim of child abuse, that brought the lives of these children into the public eye. Victoria suffered abuse at the hands of her Aunt and her partner. Members of the local community had concerns over Victoria's wellbeing, however this wasn't enough to stop Victoria's murder. Once again an investigation took place, and a The Laming Report was produced. The Laming Report found many issues within Social services, that may have saved Victoria Climbie's life. This report also advised the placement of a children's Commissioner.

In 2004 The Children's Act became legislation, and Scotland chose their Children's Commissioner.

Finally in 2005 England caught up with the rest of the UK and also appointed a Children's Commissioner.

Reading these cases and their reports showed that child abuse was still an issue that had not been tackled. The Reports that were conducted 'Reccomended' changes that would be of great benefit to many children, and give workers in this field a voice, so why were these changes 'Reccomended' rather than being essential? Why did it take so long to enforce these changes? It seems to me that the welfare of our children is not a priority with the UK Government. The appointment of the Children's Commissioner has not eradicated child abuse, but i feel that had action been taken immediately, there would have been less cases of child abuse going undetected.