Keep Governance and Safeguarding

I am sure most people will not be making decisions about who to vote for in the upcoming election based on commitments to improve safeguarding, but if the state's most basic role is to protect its people and ensure all have a minimum standard of living (of course that minimum can always be debated), the parties' attitudes to the most vulnerable in society must be a consideration in responsible voting.  My intention in this article is not to analyse and provide a commentary, but to lay the commitments out for discussion and decision - I'll share my views tomorrow.

Some disclaimers:

1. I have tried to represent the parties fairly and without bias when I have ordered commitment and paraphrased commitments at times.
2. Manifesto commitments don't all sit neatly into the same categories and so sometimes these don't sit comfortably together.
3. I haven't read all seven cover to cover, so if I miss something I apologise, but I have taken time to try to find the commitments each party is making.
4. I cannot cover all issues relevant to safeguarding, such as anti-poverty policies, social care policy and housing protections, and so this article focusses on the subjects which directly link to the safeguarding agenda.
5. I have focused on practical commitments to make changes, rather than suggestions of a strategy or a new law or implement outcomes from reviews.

It's worth saying that more words probably don't mean better policies, but may demonstrate a more considered position!  If there is no comment within a particular section, it is because I was unable to find one in the manifesto for that party.

Human Rights

Conservatives:  "Protect female-only spaces and competitiveness in sport by making clear that sex means biological sex in the Equality Act."

Green Party:  "The Green Party is committed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Court of Human Rights. Elected Greens will: Defend the Human Rights Act, Support continued direct access to ECHR rights in the domestic courts."

Labour:  "Labour values international law because of the security it brings. Britain will unequivocally remain a member of the European Convention on Human Rights."

Liberal Democrats:  "We will champion the Human Rights Act and resist any attempts to weaken or repeal it"

Plaid Cymru: "supports the UK remaining a member of the European Court of Human Rights and we support maintaining the human rights which we, collectively, hold."

Reform UK: We will "leave the European Convention on Human Rights Commence reform of the Human Rights Act so that it puts the rights of law-abiding people first."

SNP:  Make specific commitments to "Respect international law and protect rights"... by calling "on the UK Government to respect  international law and strongly oppose any attempts by the UK government to withdraw the UK from the ECHR or change the Human Rights Act", "Protect and enhance the rights of LGBTI community"... "Strengthen children’s rights by demanding the UK Government... incorporates the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into law" and "Stand up for asylum seekers".

Children in care and those leaving care

Conservatives:  "We will create more places in children’s homes while prioritising keeping families together where that’s best for the child... We will also support those leaving care with housing, education and employment, in addition to expanding befriending and

mentoring programmes for care leavers."

Green Party: "We would fund councils to extend staying put arrangements, so fostered young people can choose to stay with foster parents until they are 21".

Labour:  "Labour will work with local government to support children in care, including through kinship, foster care, and adoption, as well as strengthening regulation of the children’s social care sector."

Liberal Democrats: Commit to "Support children in kinship care and their family carers by introducing a statutory definition of kinship care; building on the existing pilot to develop a weekly allowance for all kinship carers; make care experience a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 to strengthen the rights of people who are in or have been in care."

Disability

Green Party: "To address the social care crisis elected Greens will push for... free personal care to ensure dignity in old age and for disabled people."

Liberal Democrats:  Include a number of commitments to improving disability rights in terms of work and access to benefits.

Plaid Cymru:  "We will adopt the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People into UK law to assure accessibility for all. This was ratified by the UK in 2009, but never introduced into law... The voices of disabled people will be at core of this policy to ensure the full enjoyment by persons with disabilities in daily life with dignity, their human rights, and fundamental freedoms from poverty, social exclusion, discrimination, and negligence."

SNP:  "Scrap proposed punitive welfare reforms for sick and disabled people which will take support away from some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, and halt DWP repayment demands on Carer’s Allowance."

Gender Identity

Conservatives:  "We will complete the implementation of the Cass Review, protecting young people questioning their gender from ideologically driven care and ensuring that NHS services follow evidence-based best practice."

Green Party:  "...trans and non-binary people could be legally recognised in their chosen gender through self-declaration. We also support ending the spousal veto... and to change the law so an X gender marker can be added to passports for non-binary and intersex people who wish to use it."

Labour: "Labour will finally deliver a full trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices, while protecting the freedom for people to explore their sexual orientation and gender identity. We will also modernise, simplify, and reform the...gender recognition law to a new process. We will remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance; whilst retaining the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a specialist doctor, enabling access to the healthcare pathway.  Labour is proud of our Equality Act and the rights and protections it affords women; we will continue to support the implementation of its single-sex exceptions."

Plaid Cymru:  "Plaid Cymru would end so-called conversion therapy practices related to sexuality and gender identity"... and "will seek the

powers to present the Senedd with a proposal for simplified, demedicalised gender self-identification system."

Reform UK:  Will "ban Transgender Ideology in Primary and Secondary Schools" stating that they will ensure "No gender questioning, social transitioning or pronoun swapping"... they will ensure schools "inform parents of under 16s about their children’s life decisions" and "must have single sex facilities."

Domestic Abuse and Violence Against Women and Girls

Conservatives:  "We will toughen sentencing for murders that take place within the context of domestic abuse with new aggravating factors, such as if they involve coercive and controlling behaviour or gratuitous attacks".

Green Party:  Within their commitment Bringing Justice to Crime and Policing they say they intend to "end domestic abuse and violence against women and girls" and provide specific commitments as to how they will make this happen.

Labour:  "With Labour, there will be specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force. The most prolific and harmful perpetrators will be relentlessly targeted, using tactics normally reserved for terrorists and organised crime... Labour will fast-track rape cases, with  specialist courts at every Crown Court location in England and Wales... Labour will ensure schools address misogyny and teach young people about healthy relationships and consent."

Liberal Democrats:  "Ensure that survivors of violence against women and girls and domestic abuse get the support they deserve by: Fully implementing the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, with protections for all survivors regardless of nationality or immigration status; Expanding the number of refuges and rape crisis centres to meet demand; Ensuring sustainable funding for services to support survivors of domestic abuse, with a particular focus on community-based and specialist ‘by and for’ services; Ensuring that survivors are properly supported within the criminal justice system... and Require social media companies to publish reports setting out the action they have taken to address online abuse against women and girls, and other groups who share a protected characteristic."

Plaid Cymru:  "...increase the number of successful convictions of perpetrators, as part of a series of measures [which] include: Create a Domestic Abuse Register to protect women; Stop abusers further harassing their victims through court proceedings and strengthen restraining orders and sanctions for breaching them; Following the recommendation of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust that there are specialist

stalking training requirements for all professionals dealing with stalking cases, and a unified recording system to be used by the Police, the CPS, the Home Office, Ministry of Justice and National Probation Service to follow the journey of a victim of stalking through the criminal justice system; Ensure that laws relating to sexual images are always based on consent rather than intent; Increasing sentences for domestic violence and stalking offences..

Youth Justice

Green Party:  Within their commitment Bringing Justice to Crime and Policing they say they "will focus on the prevention of crime through restoring the funding withdrawn from youth services since 2010 and through community-based policing".  In addition they also intend to improve outcomes for children by ensuring "local authorities are properly funded to deliver youth services including the youth workers who play a key role in keeping young people safe", that "safeguarding is the priority in encounters between young people and the police", "the use of traumatising tactics like stop and search becomes an exception, not routine", "children and young people are never strip searched without an appropriate adult present, and only in very exceptional circumstances" and "youth workers rather than police officers work with pupils in schools".

Labour:  "Labour will introduce new legal safeguards around strip-searching children and young people... Every young person caught in  possession of a knife will be referred to a Youth Offending Team and will receive a mandatory plan to prevent reoffending, with penalties including curfews, tagging, and custody for the most serious cases... Labour will intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime, creating a new Young Futures programme with a network of hubs reaching every community. These hubs will have youth workers, mental health support workers, and careers advisers on hand to support young people’s mental health and avoid them being drawn into crime."

Liberal Democrats:  "Address youth violence and combat knife crime by: Adopting a public health approach to the epidemic of youth violence which identifies and treats risk factors, rather than just focusing on the symptoms... Investing in youth services that are genuinely engaging and reach more young people [and] making youth diversion a statutory duty so that every part of the country has a pre-charge diversion scheme for young people up to the age of 25".

Plaid Cymru:  "We will provide better support for people with ADHD transitioning throughout the prison system, and upon leaving. This includes training for all prison staff in ADHD awareness and appropriate medication care plans, and ensure access to safe housing, tailored with local mental health and probation support"... and within their commitments to overall criminal justice they identify "the impact of drug crime on the children of addicts and look to tackle addiction in order to improve outcomes for children."

Reform UK:  Under their commitment to "Tackle Youth Crime" they will "Reopen High Intensity Training Camps for young offenders to teach basic education, teamwork and values and in their commitment to restore law and order they commit to "clampdown on all crime and antisocial behaviour, increase Stop and Search substantially" and commit to "Prison for violent crimes and possessing a knife."

Discrimination and Hate Crime

Green Party:  "Green MPs will push for pay-gap protections to be extended to all protected characteristics including ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation."

Labour:  "Labour will introduce a landmark Race Equality Act, to enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for Black, Asian, and other ethnic

minority people, strengthen protections against dual discrimination and root out other racial inequalities. Labour will also reverse the  Conservatives’ decision to downgrade the monitoring of antisemitic and Islamophobic hate" and "Labour will protect LGBT+ and disabled people by making all existing strands of hate crime an aggravated offence."

Liberal Democrats:  "Stand up to hatred by... exposing and confronting the stereotyping, demagoguery and hate speech in public life and the media that inflames hatred and leads to spikes in hate crimes" and "Make misogyny a hate crime and give police and prosecutors the resources and training they need to prevent and prosecute all hate crimes while supporting survivors."

Reform UK:  Will "Change the Definition of Hate Crime" so that "members of the British public must not be investigated because ‘any’ person ‘perceives’ that a hate crime has been committed."

Mental Health

Conservatives:  "We will: Expand coverage of Mental Health Support Teams from 50% to 100% of schools and colleges in England by 2030;  Open early support hubs for those aged 11-25 in every local community by 2030; Increase the planned expansion of NHS Talking Therapies by 50%, supporting people with anxiety, stress and depression; Boost the capacity of Individual Placement and Support for Severe Mental Illness by 140,000 places; Pass a new law to provide better treatment and support for severe mental health needs in the first session of the next Parliament."

Green Party:  "Elected Greens will focus on enabling major improvements to mental health care to put it on a truly equal footing with physical health care. This will include ensuring that everyone who needs it can access evidence-based mental health therapies within 28 days. We will ensure that tailored and specific provision is readily available for the particular needs of communities of colour, children and adolescents,

older people and Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, Queer and Asexual (LGBTIQA+) communities.  We will also push for more accessible and prompt mental health needs assessments for children and adolescents... We will provide a trained and paid counsellor in every primary and secondary school, and every sixth-form college."

Labour:  "Labour will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. This will complement our plan for Young Futures Hubs, which will make sure every community has an open-access hub for children and young people with drop-in mental health support."

Liberal Democrats:  Will "improve early access to mental health services by establishing mental health hubs for young people in every community and introducing regular mental health check-ups at key points in people’s lives when they are most vulnerable to mental ill-health"

Modern Slavery and Trafficking

Liberal Democrats:  "Liberal Democrats will prevent crime and build communities where people can truly feel safe... in addition we will... tackle modern slavery and human trafficking" by "Establishing a powerful new Worker Protection Enforcement Authority to protect people in precarious work, with proactive intelligence-led enforcement of labour market standards and a firewall with immigration enforcement; Transferring responsibility for identifying modern slavery victims from the Home Office to local safeguarding agencies.

• Creating a financial deterrent by establishing a civil remedy for survivors seeking redress from their traffickers."

Reform UK:  Under their commitment to "Stop Child Grooming Gangs", they commit to "Deport offenders holding dual citizenship. Make

child grooming an aggravating offence. Improve safeguarding of victims and vulnerable. No bail for grooming gang offenders."

Online Safety

Conservatives:  "We will put our guidance on banning mobile phones in the school day on a statutory footing which will require all schools to operate a ban"... and "we expect to build on the existing responsibilities set out for social media companies under the Online Safety Act."

Liberal Democrats:  "Protect and support the rights and wellbeing of every child by... setting up an independent advocacy body for children’s safety online"... and "Free up local officers’ time to focus on their communities by... creating a new Online Crime Agency to effectively tackle illegal content and activity online, such as personal fraud, revenge porn and threats and incitement to violence on social media."

Reform UK:  Will "Promote Child Friendly App Restricted Smartphones" because "social media is associated with eating disorders, anxiety, depression, suicide and the child mental health crisis" and they will "launch an inquiry into social media harms."  They will then "Review the Online Safety Bill" stating that "social media giants that push baseless transgender ideology and divisive Critical Race theory should have no role in regulating free speech."

SNP: "Protect people, particularly children, by ensuring the Online Safety Act comes into force on time. SNP MPs will press the UK Government to ensure tech firms cannot escape their responsibilities for the content on their platforms through full enforcement of the Act and prompt strengthening of these laws when required".

Whistleblowing (commitments are more general than safeguarding whistleblowing, but important for robust safeguarding practice)

Labour:  "We will strengthen the rights and protections available to whistleblowers in the workplace, including on sexual harassment".

Liberal Democrats:  "Ensure justice for the victims of scandals and prevent future scandals, including by... Protecting whistleblowers by establishing a new Office of the Whistleblower, creating new legal protections, and promoting greater public awareness of their rights."

Other relevant commitments

Conservatives:  On sex and relationships education "We will work to strengthen the relationship between schools and parents, including by

delivering new legislation which will make clear, beyond all doubt, that parents have a right to see what their child is being taught in school and schools must share all materials, especially on sensitive matters like relationships and sex education. This builds on the progress we have

already made, having updated Relationships, Sex and Health Education Guidance to introduce clear age-limits on what children can be taught and guarantee the contested concept of gender identity is not taught to children."

Labour:  On school inspections "We will enhance the inspection regime by replacing a single headline grade with a new report card system telling parents clearly how schools are performing. We will also... introduce a new annual review of safeguarding, attendance, and off-rolling."  On gambling harms "Labour will reform gambling regulation, strengthening protections."

Liberal Democrats:  On drug policy they will "Combat the harms caused by drugs by... protecting young people, tackling the criminal gangs and taking ‘skunk’ off the streets by introducing a legal, regulated market for cannabis. Sales will be restricted to over-18s only, from licensed retailers with strict limits on potency and THC content."