Asked by
Baroness D'Souza
To ask His Majesty’s Government what further consideration they
have given to the appointment of a Children’s Minister at Cabinet
level to coordinate cross-departmental Government programmes
concerning the welfare of children.
(Con)
My Lords, the Government are committed to placing the best
interests of children at the centre of policy and
decision-making. The Secretary of State for Education has a
statutory duty to promote the well-being of children in England.
The needs of children are generally best met through services,
with one area of focus overseen by the relevant department. For
those with multiple, overlapping needs, systems and programmes
are put in place to enable join-up.
Baroness D'Souza (CB)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his response. The welfare of
children, from formal education to special needs, diet, care and
protection, is covered by many different government and
non-ministerial departments and agencies. We have to assume that
much of this necessary work exists in silos, with few genuine
joined-up initiatives. Children’s needs can and do fall into the
gaps, and no one department might have the clout to fund and
implement broad cross-cutting programmes. There is therefore an
urgent need to insist on child welfare in all policy development,
and a cross-departmental child health and welfare strategy. This
is why a Cabinet Minister solely there to champion the cause of
children at all levels and in many different ways is vital. Does
the Minister agree?
(Con)
I am grateful to the noble Baroness for once again raising this
issue of welfare and the support of children in this country. I
recognise that she may not agree with what I have to say, but I
ask respectfully that she bear with me on this. Although the
Secretary of State for Education has a statutory duty to promote
the well-being of children in England, the Secretary of State is
not the only person with an interest. Speaking from my own
personal experience, the support of children and crucially the
network around a child goes far beyond any one person and
department. Every department has a role to play in the welfare of
a child and in supporting families to provide an environment
where children can thrive. That is why, for example, the
Government introduced the family test, to think about how policy
can impact on family life and relationships. I assure the noble
Baroness that the Government take the welfare and support of
young people as a priority. Just quickly, there are a number of
examples I can give. The £2 million—
Noble Lords
Oh!
(Con)
Fine, I will give way.
(Lab)
My Lords, I know the Minister is new, so he does not understand
that we have asked Questions similar to this one time and again
but end up getting the same waffle. The reality is that thousands
of children are now seeing their welfare at risk. In his
department, we read about a primary school where 80% of the
children are in families that are homeless. Does he think that
that is acceptable this Christmas?
(Con)
I thank the noble Baroness for the point that she makes but, with
respect, I absolutely disagree on the point that she is trying to
get at. The Government have continued to work towards our target
of building new homes. We have increased the local housing
allowance to the 30th percentile of market rents from April. We
introduced an amendment to the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill
that requires the Secretary of State to ensure that it addresses
hazards such as damp in social houses.
I never got the chance to finish the point that I wanted to make.
Describing the general support that the Government are giving is
not waffle, as the noble Baroness said. We spend around £276
billion through the welfare system; we will spend £8 billion on
free hours in early education by 2027-28; and we are introducing
family hubs in 87 local authorities, bringing services and
support together. There are a number of other examples that I
look forward to giving during this Question.
(Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister accept that of course
we want to see the best for children irrespective of our
political parties, but the Cabinet table is rather small and that
the balkanisation of responsibilities does not necessarily lend
itself to the best interests of children? Does he accept that, as
well as central government, there are people in this House who
have served with distinction in regional government, like himself
at City Hall, where we cared for children, and—dare I say it?—in
the municipal setting as well? Let us recognise that creating a
Minister for Children is not the only answer.
(Con)
I thank my noble friend for the point that he is making, and I
fundamentally agree. Although some do not seem to be agreeing
with the points I am trying to make, the fundamental point is
that there is cross-government work including the child
protection ministerial group, there is support with work between
local authorities and DLUHC, DHSC and the NHS, and mental health
support and family hubs are being provided. As I said, there are
many other examples that I would love to talk through.
(LD)
My Lords, the UNICEF report that has been published shows that
the UK is the only country that has seen a 20% increase in child
poverty. We need someone in government who actually cares about
children and protects their interests. Yes, we have a Children’s
Commissioner, but their powers are often limited and the
Government do not respond to what they say.
(Con)
I am afraid I have to disagree with the noble Lord because the
Government have done a huge amount. Yet again, I am able to give
many examples, one of which is £276 billion through the welfare
system by 2023. We have raised the living wage and the local
housing allowance, and in 2021 there were 1.7 million fewer
people in absolute poverty, including 400,000 fewer children.
(Lab)
My Lords, the recent PISA results show that more UK children feel
scared or hungry or unhappy in school than their international
counterparts. With persistent absence levels continuing to rise,
what more will the Government do to ensure that they are
promoting the well-being of children and young people in
schools?
(Con)
I am grateful to the noble Baroness’s point to also get a chance
to highlight that the PISA statistics show that England has
risen—but it may not necessarily be the case in other parts of
the country. In terms of general support for the education
system, again I think it is important to talk about the support
given in the early years. There is general childcare support but,
I understand, early years foundation stage profile results
published last week show an increase in the proportion of five
year-olds achieving a good level, even during the Covid
years.
(CB)
My Lords, as the Minister will know from yesterday’s questions on
children in hotels, 5,000 children have not had safeguarding
while they have been in hotels. Is that not a very good example
of whichever government department not caring for a large number
of unaccompanied children? Is it not time to have a Children’s
Minister at whatever level?
(Con)
I thank the noble and learned Baroness for her point. Forgive me
that I did not get the chance to address her question yesterday,
but it is worth making the point that there were safeguarding
steps in place for children in hotels and we could not detain
those unaccompanied asylum seekers. In terms of general support,
as I say, I am more than happy to ream through some of the
statistics that have already been debated.
(Con)
My Lords, I am delighted to see my noble friend on the Front
Bench and I know he cares deeply about the welfare of children,
as do we all on these Benches. This is not an easy area. I
apologise to the House that I will not be able to speak in the
debate tomorrow, which is really important to so many of us. What
cross-departmental measures are in place for safeguarding
children? I think we all recognise in this House that it is one
of the most important areas for the welfare of children.
(Con)
I thank my noble friend for that question and the interest in
this very challenging and distressing area. She is absolutely
right that the cross-government child protection ministerial
group is already in existence which brings government departments
together. It is important that we tackle issues including
exploitation, serious violence, sexual abuse and domestic abuse,
among other things.
(Lab)
My Lords, despite the Minister’s attempt at soothing
reassurances, five of the largest children’s charities recently
argued that
“It is unacceptable that … too many children are not safe,
healthy, happy and do not have equal access to
opportunities”.
What is the Government’s response to their call for a new,
serious cross-government approach to decision-making
“that places children’s interests, wishes and outcomes at its
heart, involving children and young people every step of the
way”?
(Con)
I appreciate that earlier I may have been accused by some noble
Lords of repeating myself, but I feel that I may have to repeat
myself because I think it is worth making a point. We have
provided funding to 2 million pupils for free school meals, which
is an almost 10% increase in cash terms for core spending power
for local authorities. She asked about examples of
cross-government working. There are cross-government examples
already, not to mention the child protection ministerial group.
We work with DHSC and many other departments to tackle this very
important issue.
