Baroness Lister of Burtersett
To ask His Majesty’s Government what role children’s rights will play in their plans to improve children’s wellbeing and opportunities.
The Minister of State, Department for Education (Baroness Smith of Malvern) (Lab)
My Lords, children are at the heart of this Government’s ambitions. We will deliver lasting change for all children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. From April 2025, we are nearly doubling investment in preventive services, with over £500 million to deliver family help and child protection reforms. Children should remain with their families, and where they cannot, we will support more children to live with kinship carers or in fostering families, helping to ensure their rights to loving families.
Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Lab)
My Lords, I warmly welcome the renewed commitment to child-centred government, although I am disappointed that my noble friend said nothing about children’s rights as such. In view of UNICEF UK’s statement that children’s rights should be central to plans to improve children’s well-being and opportunities and of the many criticisms made of the previous Government’s record by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, can my noble friend say what steps are now being taken to implement that committee’s recommendations to better protect and promote children’s rights and, in particular, its call for mandatory child rights impact assessments to improve policy-making and legislation relevant to children?
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
My noble friend is right that we must consider children’s rights in all our policy-making, and the Government recognise the importance of considering children’s rights in that way. That is why, in the department, we are continuing to encourage policymakers across government to carry out children’s rights impact assessments when they are making policy changes and, with respect to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we have conducted child’s rights impact assessments where children are directly impacted by the policies, or where there are particular groups of children and young people more likely to be affected than others, and we will publish those child’s rights impact assessments.
Baroness Walmsley (LD)
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the most recent UN assessment of the UK’s compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child expressed concern about the large number of children living in food insecurity and recommended
“increasing social benefits to reflect the rising cost of living”?
In light of this, why has the value of free school meals not risen in line with the cost of food? In real terms, it is now worth 16% less than it was in 2014.
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
The noble Baroness is right that, for many families and children, the availability of free school meals is very important. That is why we continue with the programme for all pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2 to be entitled to universal infant free school meals. In addition to that, 2.1 million disadvantaged pupils receive free meals on the basis of low income. This Government will also introduce breakfast clubs in every primary school. We will keep our approach to free meals and the quality and amount of them under continued review, including through the work of the Child Poverty Taskforce.
Lord Laming (CB)
My Lords, the most fundamental right of a child in this country is to be protected from abuse and exploitation. Time after time, all the reports about this indicate that the collaboration between the front-line services has deteriorated markedly in recent years. Can the Minister assure the House that, in looking to the future, a great emphasis will be placed upon the different public services working collaboratively in the interests of the well-being of the child?
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
The noble Lord has an important and distinguished history in challenging Governments and safeguarding children, and he is absolutely right that we must protect children at risk of abuse, particularly by stopping vulnerable children falling through cracks in services and ensuring that we always know where they are if they need protection. That is why, for example, in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we will support professionals to keep children safe, in particular by making provision for a consistent identifier for every child and for a requirement to establish multi-agency child protection teams for each local authority area, ensuring, as he quite rightly asked, that staff and agencies are working closely together to protect children most in need of that protection.
Baroness Chakrabarti (Lab)
My Lords, we have one of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility in the world: in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, it is just 10, and in Scotland it is 12. Troubled children are children in need, not criminals. Will the Minister consider a potential review of those ages to make those children less vulnerable and better able to be protected by agencies and authorities in the future?
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
In line with the UNCRC, we recognise the age of a child in the UK as being under 18 years of age. In that way, children are treated differently from adults. However, we do have an age of criminal responsibility of 10, and we do not intend to change that at this time.
The Lord Bishop of Lincoln
My Lords, Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises the fundamental right of all children to a free primary education and access to different forms of secondary education. Noble Lords may know that 1 million children are educated in Church of England schools at the moment, and the Church of England’s vision for education is rooted in a Christian ethos for the common good and the holistic well-being of every child, including those of all faiths and none. The Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools framework, which informs best practice in church schools, has a strong and effective focus on children’s rights in accordance with Article 28 in the UN convention. Will the Minister ensure that the substantial and compelling learnings from church schools can be highlighted and shared within her department’s ongoing review of potential reforms to current accountability measures?
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
The right reverend Prelate is right that there are very many children receiving excellent education in schools run by and sponsored by the Church of England, including the school that I attended—although I think that the accountability and inspection regime has probably been updated since then. I can certainly assure him that we will want to learn from good-quality inspection and accountability, such as he has outlined, in taking forward our reforms.
Baroness Barran (Con)
My Lords, the Minister talked about the use of child rights impact assessments for the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. I want to raise the issue of the very concerning rise in deprivation of liberty orders for children, particularly their increasing use for very young children, apparently as young as seven. There is currently no age differentiation in the Bill and, unlike in the case of secure accommodation, a child can be deprived of their liberty without the authorisation of the Secretary of State. Can the Minister respond to that, and to the calls from the Children’s Commissioner that the legal framework should be strengthened to protect those very vulnerable children, particularly those with disabilities and at risk of exploitation?
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
The noble Baroness is right that the lack of suitable provision for children with complex needs, as well as some secure children’s homes, is a very key part of the reason why there has been a big increase in the number of deprivation of liberty orders. That is why our programme of work, including the legislative changes and capital investment, is focused on improving the outcomes for those children. We will, as she identifies, be looking at the legislative framework for deprivation of liberty orders, and I will take on board the point she makes about the particular challenges for very young children. I am sure that we will have the opportunity to debate this in more length and detail when the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill comes before this House.
Lord Laming (CB)
My Lords, another right a child has is to have a good education. The number of absences, especially among young children, is becoming seriously worrying. Will the Minister—I know that she cares about these matters—assure the House that, in moving forward, real attention will be given to attendance at school, because it is in the law—since 1948? We have had a law for attendance for a long time in this country. Please make sure it happens.
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
The noble Lord is absolutely right that we have a crisis of absence. Children cannot be properly taught, and in some cases they cannot be properly protected, unless they are attending school. That is why we have a wide-ranging set of policies to address that: the better use of data; the revised guidance; and a more granular focus on those schools that are doing well and those schools that are doing less well. The introduction of breakfast clubs in every primary school will also help to encourage children to arrive earlier in school and to be provided with the support to perform better when they are there.