DonkeySkin
That PP was me - thank you very much for those lists of suggestions.
I like the "red alert" under certain circumstances, and the emphasis on children's rights. Ultimately I feel that there has to be a cultural shift where children are seen less as the "exclusive property" of the parent/carer, and their wellbeing seen more as the responsibility of the wider community. Parent/carers need to understand children's rights, and the responsibilities to deliver on those rights that their guardian role assigns to them. We also need to understand on a deeper level than we do currently that a child is not for their parents to do unto them simply as they see fit, especially those parents who struggle with self-control and are likely to cause harm. That might help catch cases before a child actually dies - it sounds like the abuse may start relatively small and then compound itself exponentially as the abuser loses perspective on the enormity of what they are doing. (Not making any excuses here).
I like the idea of increasing powers to conduct more thorough investigations, of allowing for those investigations to be instigated by family members, of allowing for concerned family members to take a more active role in protecting children in extreme circumstances without being seen as "kidnappers", but the questions of resources and potential misuse of these powers crops up for me here. What do you think?