Leaving children home alone - what does the law say?

Surprisingly, there is no legal minimum age at which a child may be left at home on their own.

Instead, the law leaves it up to parents to decide whether a child is mature enough to be trusted to be able to be left at home on their own.

The Children and Young Persons (England and Wales) Act 1933, the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 and the Children and Young Persons (Northern Ireland) Act 1968, all allow for parents and carers to be prosecuted for neglect.

They can be fined or even imprisoned to prison if they are judged to have placed a child at risk of harm.

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has issued guidance to help parents decide whether it is safe to leave children at home.

The charity says babies, toddlers and young children should never be left alone.

Even if they are sleeping peacefully when you leave, they could wake up and get very upset when you’re not there. They would not be able to protect themselves in an emergency and may even try to leave the property to find you.

Whether you or your child are comfortable with the idea of them being left alone will often depend on how mature and adaptable your child is.

Broadly, the NSPCC says children under the age of 12 are rarely mature enough to cope in an emergency and should not be left unsupervised for long. The charity also advises that under-16s should not be left alone overnight

A child should never be left at home alone if they do not feel comfortable, regardless of their age.

If a child has additional needs, these should be considered by the parents.

The charity also advises that when leaving a younger child with an older sibling parents should think about what may happen if the siblings were to fall out with one another.