Britain: An official handbook > 1993

SOCIAL WELFARE
Help to Families
The Government believes in the central
importance of the family to the well-being of
society and considers that stable adult
relationships are needed to support and
enhance family life. Social services
authorities, through their own social workers
and others, give help to families facing special
problems. This includes services for children
at risk of injury or neglect who need care
away from their own families, and support for
family carers who look after elderly and other
family members in order to give them relief
from their duties. They also help single
parents. There are now many refuges run by
local authorities or voluntary organisations for
women, often with young children, whose
home conditions have become intolerable.
The refuges provide short-term
accommodation and support while attempts
are made to relieve the women’s problems.
Many authorities also contribute to the cost
of social work with families (such as marriage
guidance) carried out by voluntary
organisations.
The Self-help and Families Project
provides funding for nine voluntary agencies
to assist groups of families to help
themselves.
The Government launched a three-year
initiative in 1989 to increase voluntary sector
provision in England for disadvantaged
families with children under five. With funds
of £2 million, it is enabling voluntary
organisations to research and develop day care
services, particularly for single parents and
families living in temporary accommodation.
Child Care
Day care facilities for children under five are
provided by local authorities, voluntary
agencies and privately. In allocating places in
their day nurseries and other facilities, local
authorities give priority to children with
special social or health needs. Local
authorities also register childminders, private
day nurseries and playgroups in their areas
and provide support and advice services. A
total of j£l -5 million is to be made available to
voluntary organisations over a period of three
years starting in 1992, to help the
development of out-of-school services.
The authorities can offer advice and help
to families in difficulties to promote the
welfare of children. The aim is to act at an
early stage to reduce the need to put children
into care or bring them before a court.
Child Abuse
Cases of child abuse are the joint concern of
many authorities, agencies and professions.
Local review committees provide a forum for
discussion and co-ordination and draw up
policies and procedures for handling these
cases. The Government established a central
training initiative on child abuse in 1986.
This consists of a variety of projects,
including training for health visitors, school
nurses, and local authority social services
staff. Training packs have been drawn up for
those concerned with implementing the
Children Act 1989 (see below).
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland
children under the age of 14 in child abuse
cases are able to give evidence to courts
through television links, thus sparing them
from the need to give evidence in open court.
Children in Care
Local government authorities must provide
accommodation for children in need in their
area who require it because they have no
parent or guardian, have been abandoned or
whose parents are unable to provide for
them. The local authority promotes the
welfare of the children in its care. The
number of children in the care of local
authorities continues to decline. Provisional
statistics show that:
• the total number of children in care fell
from 92,300 in 1981 to 59,800 in 1991;
• the number of children in care placed
with foster parents increased from 39 per
cent in 1981 to 57 per cent in 1991; and
• between 1990 and 1991 the number of
children in residential care fell from
12,670 to under 12,000.
Under the Children Act 1989, which came
into effect in England and Wales in 1991,
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