Duty to report child abuse to get 'Romeo and Juliet' exemption

Teachers will not have to inform on sexually active teenagers under a new legal duty to report child abuse after a "Romeo and Juliet" exemption received cross-party support.

- Daniel Boffey

A new crime and policing bill obliges professionals in England, including teachers and health workers, to report suspicions of child sexual abuse to the police or local authority to prevent cover-ups.

There will be dispensation, however, when it comes to teenagers in consensual sexual relationships after Harriet Cross, a Conservative whip, indicated that her party backed "a Romeo and Juliet exemption".

The age of sexual consent in the UK is 16 and, unlike in other countries such as Australia, there is no exemption allowing sexual activity between under-18s, even when the two minors are in a consensual relationship.