what age can you leave your kids alone in the house?

[Lorien]

Just looking for some info here. I live in Malaysia (I'm British) and I have a good Malaysian friend whose husband has just got a job in London. My friend is freaking out a little, I think largely because her family don't want her to go and keep telling her how cold, rainy, expensive and bureacratic it is in England.
Now, I've gone through the cold, rainy, expensive part and explained that it really isn't that bad and that there are lots of plus points too. But my friend keeps asking if it is true that you are not allowed to leave your kids alone in the house until they are 14. And if you do, you'll go to jail?
My own kids are small and I really don't know what (if any) the legislation is like in Britain. But does anyone know? I really want to calm down my friend.
Many thanks, Lorien

Many thanks for the input. That should help my friend calm down a little. Her youngest son is 10 and she is looking to find a part-time job while they are in England; hence the worry.

It is a myth about not leaving children in the house under 14. There is no statutory age, there is a discretionary application of neglect which is related to individual circumstances. There is though I think something related to leaving children with access to an open fire. There have been some highly publicised home alone cases involving parents flying abroad or staying out at night and leaving young children but nothing for your friend to worry about.

What about leaving them while you go to the shops?My ds begs not to go to the supermarket but I still feel uncomfortable leaving him.He's 10 BTW

I thought there was a rule that children have to be at least 12 to be left on their own but I could be wrong. This is what I was told when I was a nanny but I suppose it could've changed.

Legally you can leave children unattended at any age, but if anything were to happen to them during the period you were gone, then you would be held legally responsible, and liable to prosecution.

I agree with lemonice that it's a myth. Go to jail? Even in cases of very serious neglect where social services are involved, the parents almost never get prosecuted, let alone sent to jail.

Here is some more info on the NSPCC website that should put your friend's mind at rest. They say "there is no law that states the minimum age that a child can be left alone. However, it is an offence to leave a child alone when doing so puts him or her at risk."

There have been several discussions about this. They seem to have all been archived.

here \linkwww.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=9&threadid=14203{}

here