I am sorry to see that those calling for mandatory reporting
of child abuse in England have now managed to get 100,000 people to sign their
petition.
My view is that mandatory reporting is entirely the wrong
approach. It will increase the already prevalent blame culture and as a result
will make child protection disasters more likely, not less.
Professional errors that resulted in Daniel Pelka’s tragic
death did not spring from wilful neglect of duty. They sprang from people simply
getting it wrong; not realising how bad Daniel’s situation was; being conned by
his plausible mother.
