Experts Speaking Out
The following experts in child protection, social work, human rights, use of data and algorithmic profiling signed the open letter and are warning that the Children’s Bill is dangerous.
“Not only does the Bill create a dangerous expansion of powers to store and distribute children’s information it involves an unprecedented shift of power from families to the state which will negatively impact individual children, their families and society more widely.”
Academic experts
The following signed the open letter on the dangers of the Children’s Bill
Dr Chris Bagley
Educational Psychologist and Lecturer, University College London
Expertise on mental health and wellbeing of children and young people within education system. Specialism in Youth Justice, school exclusion and managed moves and has practiced, mostly, in a youth offending team and in Pupil Referral Units and Secure Children Homes (child prisons) for a number of years.
Professor Andy Bilson
Emeritus Professor University of Central Lancashire, Visiting Researcher University of Cambridge, Adjunct Professor University of Western Australia
Extensive professional experience of social work and child protection, former director of the Council of Europe and UNICEF’s Observatory on European Children’s Rights. Continuing work and focus on harm caused by the shift to investigation instead of support. Champions children’s rights and parental advocacy to improve the child protection system and children’s lives.
Professor Luke Clements
Cerebra Professor of Law and Social Justice at the School of Law, Leeds University
Practiced as a solicitor for 20 years including cases before the European Commission and Court of Human Rights. Academic research and litigation experience focused on rights of people who experience social exclusion, including disabled people and their carers
Dr Stephen Crossley
Assistant Professor, Sociology, Durham University
With a background in the public and voluntary sector across community cohesion, tenant participation, health inequalities and child poverty and academic expertise on the Troubled Families Programme.
Professor Ros Edwards Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, University of Southampton
Expertise in use of early intervention, including Troubled Families, use of children’s and parental data and of predictive risk assessment
Professor Val Gillies, Social Policy and Criminology, Westminster University
Marginalised children and young people, use of inclusion and behaviour policies, early intervention into families and the impact of AI and data led policy.
Dr Sarah Gillie, ACE – Education and Childhood, UWE Bristol
Focus on inclusive education, including home education and special educational needs and disabilities.
Co-convenor for the BERA Special Interest Group for Alternative Education.
Professor Anna Gupta
Department of Law and Criminology, Royal Holloway, University of London
Expert in child protection, poverty and inequality, work with Black and minority ethic children. Focus on social justice and rights. Has written on and called for a Social Model of protecting children which respects rights.
Dr Remi Joseph-Salisbury,
Reader in Sociology, University of Manchester
Expertise on race and racism in secondary schools including policing with a focus on achieving change. Steering group member of the Northern Police Monitoring Project and the No to Police in Schools campaign.
Dr Michael Lambert,
Lancaster Medical School, Lancaster University
Historian of welfare state and health policy, ‘problem families’ and the making of ethical social work decisions
Professor Eileen Munro
Emeritus Professor of Social Policy, London School of Economics and Social Policy
Lead on seminal independent review of child protection system in 2011, and with expertise across risk assessment and decision making in child protection work. A vocal critic of the 2004 database children, ContactPoint, and has continued to raise awareness of the dangers of similar measures including in the Schools Bill and in this Bill.
Allan Norman,
Independent Social Worker, Non-practising Solicitor.
Expertise and practice focuses on human rights within social work and protection of children, including how information-sharing initiatives can breach those rights. Wrote extensively on the shift from rights to coercion in English child protection in 2013. Provided a legal opinion and expertise on the markedly similar Named Person Scottish powers, ruled against by the Supreme Court in 2016.
Dr Harriet Pattison,
Senior Lecturer, Childhood Studies, Liverpool Hope University
Research focus on home education pedagogy and also on how for some groups individual family decisions are framed within political narratives of danger, radicalisation, and security implications.
Professor Debbie Watson
Professor of Child and Family Welfare, University of Bristol
Currently running a project exploring the use of predictive analytics in child welfare contexts. This comprises a number of activities: system analytics on risk models, creative workshops with young people on data harms and AI systems and community stakeholder research on impacts of such systems in everyday life.
Professor Sue White,
Emeritus Professor, Sociology, Sheffield University
Registered social worker with expertise in child welfare whose work has called for a social model in protecting children.
Dr Lauren Wroe
Associate Professor, Contextual Safeguarding, Durham University
Registered social worker with a focus on keeping children safe in the community, her work focuses on how child welfare issues have authorised oppressive policing, sentencing and immigration policy
Organisations
The following signed the open letter on the dangers of the Children’s Bill
ATD Fourth World
All Together in Dignity is an international movement of solidarity which works in among and in collaboration with the most excluded families worldwide.
Define Fine
National peer parent carer led support organisation for children experiencing barriers attending school.
Disabled Mother’s Rights Campaign
Works to highlight and change the hostility faced by disabled and autistic mothers and other single, working class and mothers of colour and to stop social workers and family courts from removing their children.
Maslaha
Work to challenge and change conditions which create inequalities and racism for Muslim communities. Authors of the Radical Safeguarding, Social Justice Workbook for Safeguarding Practitioners.
No More Exclusions
Black-led and community-based abolitionist grassroots coalition movement. Voices and experiences of children and young people who have experienced oppressive education and exclusion centred. Campaigners raised awareness of harms of information sharing as part of Bristol’s Think Family.
Northern Police Monitoring Project
Independent grassroots organisation working to build community resistance against police violence, harassment and racism.
Parents, Families and Allies Network
UK wide group bringing together parents with experience of children’s social work, social workers, professionals and academics in social work. Championing parent advocacy.
Prevent Watch
The UK’s dedicated organisation fighting the harms of the government’s counter-terrorism programme Prevent. Case studies have featured in numerous reports from human rights organisations.
Support Not Separation
A coalition to end the unwarranted and damaging separation of children from their mothers or other primary carer.
The Victoria Climbié Foundation UK
Established by Victoria’s parents the Foundation is entrusted to carry work to hold child protection systems to account and ensure that child rights are embedded in this work.
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