A new law has been drawn up so that deaths involving children are reviewed to identify any welfare or health issues.

The Children and Young Persons (Amendment) Bill will be placed before the House of Keys today (Tuesday) for a first reading.

This is a formal process and it will not be debated until it is put forward for a second reading, when the bill’s principles are considered.

The draft legislation makes provision for the review of child deaths and the analysis of information regarding those deaths.

That statutory provision was originally intended to be included in the 2018 Safeguarding Act.

But it was decided the review of child deaths and the analysis of information had ’wider public health considerations’ going beyond safeguarding.

Public health

So the decision was made to instead make it a matter under the remit of public health and add a new section to the current Children and Young Persons Act.

In its explanatory note on the draft bill, the Department of Health and Social Care said: ’The purpose of a review is to identify matters relevant to the welfare of children, public health and safety on the island and to consider whether it would be appropriate for action to be taken.

’Where it is appropriate for action to be taken a recommendation can be made to a person that a person must either comply or explain why they propose not to do.’

The Isle of Man has an average of four or five child deaths per year, the DHSC says.

The intention would be to make arrangements with the Merseyside Child Death Overview Panel.