I am today informing Parliament about the publication of the "Staying Safe Action Plan". This is a cross-Government document setting out work to be taken forward over the period 2008-11 to improve children and young people's safety.

This action plan has been developed across Government and demonstrates our collective commitment to keeping children and young people safe.

I will place a copy of the document in the Libraries of both Houses.

The "Staying Safe Action Plan" is the Government response to the "Staying Safe" consultation, which ran from 18 July to 31 October 2007. During the consultation we received 1,039 responses from practitioners, parents, children, young people and the general public and held regional events with practitioners, as well as discussion groups with parents, children and members of the general public.

The consultation generated a wide ranging debate about children and young people's safety and the key messages of the "Staying Safe Action Plan" are:

Keeping children and young people safe is everyone's responsibility.

In many ways children and young people are safer than previous generations, but there are new risks and challenges.

It is important to strike a balance between protecting children and young people and allowing them the freedom to learn for themselves and develop resilience to harm.

The action plan sets out commitments from across Government for work to keep children and young people safe. The effectiveness of these policies over the CSR period 2008-11 will be monitored and evaluated by PSA 13 (improve children and young people's safety).

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