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<p>The government considers any malicious reporting and false claims made to children’s
social care as completely unacceptable. It is a cruel practice, a terrible ordeal
for the families affected, and can distract services from undertaking vital child
protection work.</p><p>However, it is right that people should remain able to flag
concerns about children they believe to be vulnerable, and that social services fulfil
their duty to treat each safeguarding case seriously and to undertake enquiries if
they believe a child has suffered or is likely to suffer harm. Therefore government
is not currently looking to make false or malicious reports to social services a criminal
offence.</p><p>The information requested on the number of false or malicious reports
to social services is not held by the department.</p>
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