Mary Kelly Foy MP raises Maya’s Law question in Parliament

On Monday (March 23), Mary Kelly Foy, MP for the City of Durham, raised several questions to the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, during a Home Office questions session in Parliament.

The questions related to Maya’s Law, a campaign launched in memory of Maya Chappell.

The two-year-old died in Newcastle’s RVI in September 2022, days after being violently shaken by her mother’s new partner, Michael Daymond, at their home in Shotton Colliery, County Durham.

Maya Chappell (Image: FAMILY)

Daymond was jailed for life, while Maya’s mother, Dana Carr, was handed a nine-year sentence for allowing her daughter’s death.

In September last year, Maya’s great aunts, Gemma Chappell and Rachael Walls, set up the Maya’s Law campaign, backed by The Northern Echo, looking to bring in a Child Risk Disclosure Scheme (CRDS), which would allow families to request information about a partner or caregiver’s violent or abusive history, similar to Clare’s Law and Sarah’s Law.

City of Durham MP, Mary Kelly Foy (Image: PARLIAMENT)

While a full parliament debate has been scheduled for April 13 at 6pm, Ms Foy raised several questions on Maya’s Law yesterday, while also paying tribute to Maya’s great aunts, Gemma and Rachael, for their work on the campaign.

“I’d like to congratulate Maya’s Law campaigners, particularly Maya’s great aunts, Gemma and Rachael, for their passion and tenacity in lobbying MPs to support their campaign to improve child protection laws in the UK,” Ms Foy said.

“Does the minister agree with me that it’s unforgivable that someone who is supposed to look after a child could end up hurting them instead?

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood (Image: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire)

“And will they ensure that the debate my honourable friend for Blaydon and Consett (Liz Twist) has secured on Maya’s Law receives full support from the Government?

Responding to Ms Foy, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, said: “The circumstances she highlights are obviously horrifying, and it is abhorrent for anyone entrusted with the care of a child to cause harm to them.

“Can I assure her that the Government will be engaging fully and constructively.”

Under the proposed Maya’s Law and Child Disclosure Scheme, police, councils, health services and social care agencies would have a legal duty to share safeguarding information when concerns arise, ensuring families are aware of potential risks.

Maya’s Law proposes four key changes:

• A Child Risk Disclosure Scheme (CRDS): letting families request risk history information about caregivers.
• Mandatory information sharing between police, health, and social care agencies.

• Stronger multi-agency protocols, especially in custody and unsupervised access cases.
• New safeguarding powers for professionals to raise alerts or trigger court action, even without an active investigation.