Decentralised child protection responsibilities

National governments have the responsibility, deriving from international, European and national law, to promote, ensure and protect child rights within its jurisdiction, regardless of state structure.

Decentralised child protection responsibilities at regional and local level*

Notes:* Local refers to municipal level. All other levels of territorial administration are included under 'regional' level.
In the Netherlands, as of 1 January 2015, responsibility lies solely with local authorities.

Source: FRA, 2014

Key findings

• The majority of Member States do not have a single authority with overall child protection responsibility. Child protection responsibilities are instead shared among different ministries and across national, regional and local authorities.
• In most Member States, child protection responsibilities at national level are assigned and/or shared among the Ministries of Welfare / Social affairs, of Justice and of Education.
• Federal or autonomous states place responsibility at regional level.
• Almost all Member States decentralise national child protection systems, assigning some responsibilities to regional or local authorities; the level of decentralisation, however, varies.
• In some Member States, national authorities maintain the right and responsibility to coordinate and set standards at national level, while in others local or regional authorities carry full responsibility and enjoy a high level of autonomy.

With the exception of Cyprus, Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta child protection responsibilities are decentralised at varying levels. Sweden, for example, decentralises the operation of its child protection system but uses national law to supervise and regulate it.

Some Member States assign responsibilities to regional-provincial authorities (Austria, Croatia and France), others to local-municipal authorities (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom).

In Belgium, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, child protection responsibility lies with its federal states, autonomous communities or other delineated regions. At this regional level, however, municipal authorities bear primary responsibility for child protection. 

In nine Member States (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) regional and local authorities share responsibilities.

Following a reform in the Netherlands, as of 1 January 2015, responsibility lies solely with local authorities.