COMMUNITY GARDEN FLOURISHING - PAGE 02
‘ODD’ LOOKING BLACKBIRD - PAGE 11
Carpet Specialist
SALE NOW ON! SHEFFIELD
A genuine 10% off
ALL CARPETS & VINYLS www.tuftscarpets.net Tel 0114 234 2202
1 Learoyd Way, The Barracks, Hillsborough, Sheffield S6 2LR
Free
Discover North Sheffield
MP HAILS REFORMS THURS 16 JAN 2025
www.looklocal.org.uk news@looklocal.org.uk Tel: 0114 283 11 00
@looklocalnewspapersheffield
FACEBOOK.COM/LOOKLOCAL
ISSUE : 1357
MP welcomes “landmark legislation” to introduce the biggest child protection reforms in a generation
Marie Tidball, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge has spoken in support of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, raising the tragic deaths of Jack and Paul Sykes from Penistone. The brothers were murdered 10 years ago by their known domestically abusive father in a house fire he set alight, whilst on a permitted contact visit. The Bill introduces the biggest child protection reforms in a generation. In her speech made during the Parliamentary debate on the Bill, Marie highlighted the crucial role of the Bill to create a safer and higher quality education system for
every child to protect the most vulnerable children. Marie spelled out the urgency to reinforce the “incredible strategic work” in the bill with a need to change the law to remove the principle of presumption of contact in the Family Courts. This principle, added via the Children and Families Act 2014 and now found in Section 1 of the Children’s Act 1989, currently allows known abusers to have contact with their children, putting those children’s lives at risk. Whilst speaking in Parliament in support of the land-
mark legislation on child protection reform, Marie Tidball MP, described how she first met Jack and Paul’s mother Claire Throssell: “At a Remembrance Service at [her] old secondary school in Penistone. Every year the Headteacher marks the deaths of Claire’s sons, former pupils, Jack and Paul Sykes. However, the names of most of the children who’ve have been murdered at the hands of their domestically abusive parents, in the decade since Claire’s boys were killed, remain unspoken. But we must not forget them.
Excellent
Between 2005 and 2015, Women's Aid research found 19 Children, including Jack and Paul, had been killed as a result of unsafe contact with abusive parents.” Marie applauded the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill in introducing “a “Children not in school register” to ensure no child falls through the cracks when home educated. The Bill is also powerful in strengthening the use of agency workers in children’s social care. The Bill also establishes a single unique identifier for children and introduction of new duties which will improve information sharing across and within agencies, bringing together multiagency teams from education, social work, health and police.” Marie Tidball MP went onto say: “The government is taking 'strong action' ... and [commended] the work of the Secretary of State for Ed-
FO R YOU R F R E E QUOTAT I O N V I S I T OU R S H OW RO OM, CALL
0114 240 0158 O R V I S I T directkitchens.co.uk Rated “Excellent”
Not to be used in conjunction with any other offer
ucation for bringing forward such a transformative Bill. Claire Throssell promised her two boys that no other children would die in the same tragic circumstances that her sons did. I am proud that our Mission-Led Government includes halving violence against women and girls in a decade – and recognises the need to use every government tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence. To achieve this mission, and fulfil the promise Claire made to her children a decade ago, will require connecting the incredible strategic work in the bill with an urgent need to change the law to remove the principle of presumption of contact in the Family Courts. This is an important piece of the jigsaw puzzle to complement the work being enacted
in the Bill we are debating today. I look forward to our government's response to the 2020 Harm Report on this principle - something the Conservatives failed to do in government. I commend the Bill - it brings forward a landmark approach to safeguarding children at risk, and I am proud to support it.” Claire Throssell MBE said: “I welcome this landmark new legislation and would like to thank Dr Marie Tidball MP for being such a passionate and strong advocate for children and young people at risk of harm and abuse within the home. I held my boys in my arms so tightly as they died and promised them that no more children should have to die at the hands of their parent...... someone who should love and protect them the most.”