Mandatory Reporting of abuse urged

               Ann Coffey MP says children and other vulnerable witnesses are often 'manipulated like puppets' by barristers . Barristers must be prevented from "Manipulating the children". A petition calling for a law making it mandatory to report suspected child abuse is signed by 50,000 people. More than 50,000 people have signed a petition calling for a new law forcing people who work with children to report suspected child abuse. Damning report on failings in four-year-old's death strengthens call for debate over obligation to pass on abuse concerns. Pressure is growing for a national debate on mandatory reporting of child abuse after a damning report exposed how teachers, health professionals, social workers and police officers failed Daniel Pelka, the four-year-old tortured, starved and beaten to death by his mother and stepfather.
                                         The serious case was published in Newspapers, Television on Tuesday told the boy appeared to be invisible to the many professionals who had contact with him but did not step in. The review team could find no record of any conversation with Daniel about his home life, his feelings or his relationships with his mother and her male partners. The report found that a vast number of professionals had contact with Daniel and his family but nobody put together the full picture of the abuse the boy was suffering at home in Coventry, where he was kept locked in a filthy box-room, denied food and subjected to physical torture. It emerged in the report that police attended Daniel's "chaotic" household almost 30 times in response to reports of domestic abuse in the six years before his death and it suggested officers could have done more to make sure he was being treated well.
                                        The report makes clear that the sharing of information and communications between all agencies was not robust enough and no one fitted together the jigsaw of what was really happening to Daniel. Medical director at the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, said training had been reviewed and new systems were in place. The children and families minister Edward Timpson has written to the safeguarding board asking for further analysis of why the failures happened. According to the report, the fact that there is no record of any conversation held with him by any professional about his home life, his experiences outside of school, his wishes and feelings, and of his relationships with his mother and her male partners speaks volumes.