Recommendation R15: Inspection of non-referral decisions
From The Bichard Inquiry Report, published 22 June 2004.
Recommendation
The Commission for Social Care Inspection should, as part of any social services inspection, review whether decisions not to inform the police have been properly taken.
In brief (written by this site)
The Home Office reported in November 2005 that Recommendation 15 was complete (Home Office, Nov 2005). Previously, in December 2004, the department stated that the Commission for Social Care Inspection had agreed to modify its inspection process to include a focus on whether allegations of sexual offences committed against a child had been appropriately addressed and reported to the police (Home Office response, Dec 2004).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
Recommendation 15: CSCI has agreed to modify their inspection process to include a focus on whether allegations of sexual offences committed against a child have been appropriately addressed and reported to the police in line with guidance. A letter confirming the proposed methodologies and dates for this inspection process has been sent to Sir Michael.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
The Government accepted all 31 recommendations collectively: the Home Secretary's written statement of 11 January 2005 records that "All 31 recommendations were accepted by the Government when the Inquiry reported in June 2004". No document states an acceptance decision for any single recommendation. The response shown against each recommendation is the Home Office's answer to it in the first progress report, sent to Sir Michael Bichard on 22 December 2004 and placed in the Library of the House on 11 January 2005. The Government then reported against the recommendations three more times, in November 2005, May 2006 and May 2007; the updates shown are taken from those reports.
Delivery
Home Office says completed (7 November 2005)
Recommendations 12 and 15 are complete.
From: Bichard Inquiry Recommendations: Second Progress Report
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Home Office
Response, delivery statement