Asked by
The Lord
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, published on 23
May; and what plans they have to make experience of being in care
a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education () (Con)
My Lords, we are grateful to Josh MacAlister for his important
work, which matches our ambition for vulnerable children and
their families. We will consider the recommendations in the
Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, including the
recommendation to make experience of being in care a protected
characteristic. The Government will publish the detailed and
ambitious implementation strategy later this year.
The Lord
I thank the noble Baroness for her Answer. Today, 100 young
people in the care system met Members of your Lordships’ House
and the other place to express their views on how the care system
can be improved, and I know that, like me, she had the privilege
of meeting and talking with some of them. Can she say more about
how young people will be directly included in the national
implementation board of this care review?
(Con)
I did indeed by chance meet a group of young people wearing
badges reading “Our care”, so the opportunity was irresistible in
view of the right reverend Prelate’s Question. We are building on
the work that Josh MacAlister did. He had an advisory board made
up of people with experience of the care system, and we are
continuing with that approach for our implementation board.
(LD)
The report recommends technology to achieve frictionless sharing
of information, and a national data and technology task force. Is
this the body that would decide on the unique identifying number
for which the children’s workforce has been calling, to avoid
children disappearing through the cracks between services?
(Con)
The noble Baroness will be aware that the Government committed in
the Health and Social Care Act to develop a unique identifier,
and that work is continuing. I believe it is separate to her
reference.
(Lab)
My Lords, the SEND Green Paper said very little about social
care, and the independent review the right reverend Prelate spoke
about defers responsibility back to the same Green Paper. This
has caused groups such as the Disabled Children’s Partnership to
raise concern that reform of funding for disabled children’s
social care will not be addressed. Will the Government ensure
that this does not happen and that problems in disabled
children’s social care will be resolved?
(Con)
I am very concerned if the perception is as the noble Lord
describes. I encourage those involved with particular expertise
in that area to contribute to the consultation on the Green
Paper, which is open until 22 July. Our ambition is clear: that
we address the problems in the system comprehensively.
(CB)
My Lords, I wonder if the Minister has taken on board—I am sure
she has—a recommendation from the report that more senior social
workers should carry on having case loads. My experience as a
family judge was that senior social workers were completely
divorced from the sorts of cases that were actually coming before
the courts. I would be grateful to know if the Government will
take that forward.
(Con)
The Government are considering all 80 recommendations in the
report, of which this is an important one. We have identified the
five priority recommendations, but the implementation board will
report back on all our actions by the end of the year.
(Con)
My Lords, I welcome the focus that the review has placed on
supported lodgings. However, work still needs to be done to
enable supported lodgings to become a fully recognised provision.
Will the Government commit to meeting Home for Good, a charity
that has recently set up a supported lodgings network, to provide
a definition and guidance on this provision?
(Con)
My noble friend raises an important issue. Indeed, one of the
young women to whom I was speaking just before this Question
talked about exactly the point that he raises. I would be
delighted to meet the organisation that he mentioned.
(LD)
My Lords, I too had the privilege of meeting some of those young
people a little earlier, which included hearing a rather
harrowing story of two brothers who had been brought up in foster
care. The review recommends more support, both practical and
financial, for kinship carers, which include grandparents, aunts,
uncles and others who care for family members. Is the Minister
able to say what is going to happen to that recommendation and
whether the Government are planning to take it forward?
(Con)
The Government recognise the incredible role that kinship carers
play in the system. It would be premature for me to judge what
the Government will decide, but obviously it is being considered
carefully along with the other recommendations.
(CB)
My Lords, in the question from the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley,
the Minister suggested that there would be two national
children’s identification numbers. Is that correct? Can that be
right?
(Con)
I apologise to the House if that is the impression that I gave. I
am happy to write to set out the Government’s position in detail.
of Darlington (Lab)
My Lords, the report recommends that schools are made a statutory
safeguarding partner in the care system, to represent the voice
of education in partnership arrangements. Will the Government
take advantage of the opportunity that the Schools Bill presents?
I recommend the amendment tabled in my name to that end. which
would formalise the role that our schools already play, to give
them the recognition and voice that they need to do that job
effectively.
(Con)
I look forward to debating the noble Baroness’s amendment in
detail. We know that schools already play an incredibly important
part in safeguarding children and represent an important source
of information about whether or not a child is safe. However, I
cannot prejudge the final decisions.
(LD)
My Lords, since there is time, I will ask another question. The
review calls for a reformed children’s social care system to be
based on children’s rights, putting children’s voices at the
centre of decisions. What framework will the Government use for
this approach? Will they consider using the existing UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child?
(Con)
A decision has not been taken on that, but the noble Baroness
exposes an important issue. For a long time, the voice of the
child and the welfare of the child being paramount has been a
concept that we are all extremely familiar with, but we must
ensure that it happens in practice as well as in legislation.
