Queen’s Speech

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Monday 17th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Benjamin (LD) [V]]

My Lords, two important issues that need to be high on the Government’s priority list are the environment and children and young people’s well-being. If these issues are not addressed urgently, the consequences are dire. I was pleased to hear both mentioned in the gracious Speech, but the policies do not go far enough.

The planting of trees is just one way of making an impact on climate change, and I am honoured to have been appointed an ambassador for the Queen’s Green Canopy to encourage the planting of trees all over the UK in celebration of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee next year. It is great that Defra is involved with this initiative, but the Government need to do much more by working across departments on a coherent strategy, as it will take an army of planters to reach the Government’s goal of 30,000 hectares of trees a year. When the Government are considering areas where trees can be planted, are they also looking at local employment levels? Will there be a training and skills component to it to ensure that planting is successful? Currently, most trees are being planted by the devolved nations, so England needs to up its game massively, and the Treasury needs to release the funds to make this happen, because in the last financial year, only 1,956 hectares of trees were planted with government support.

The announcement of a skills Bill is welcome, but what is being done to put climate at the heart of under-16 education, encouraging children to develop an interest in gardening and consider a career in horticulture? Perhaps the Minister will let us know whether this is on the cards. We now know that children in communities across the UK have suffered disproportionately during the pandemic. We do not yet know exactly what impact this will have on their future. What is certain is that the Government owe it to the younger generation to put them front and centre of their plans, because childhood lasts a lifetime.

Play is something I have been long associated with. It was great to see play mentioned in the SNP’s election promise to renew every playground in Scotland, and to hear the call by the Association of Play Industries for the Prime Minister to match that pledge because of the big decrease in play areas over the years. It is shameful that parents are having to resort to crowdfunding to save their local playgrounds, as reported in an article in the Guardian. A report from the University of Reading also confirmed the importance of playgrounds, with its finding that, away from home, the most common place for children to play is in a playground or green space. Will the Minister confirm that the Government will encourage local authorities to maintain and improve playgrounds and green spaces for the nation’s children to enjoy?

I declare an interest as vice-president of Barnardo’s. It has long called for a family hub in every community. The goal should be to provide a safety net long before families reach crisis point. Will the Government make funding available so that every community can have this vital resource for a community centre to act as the family hub?

The harm that happens to children online does not stay online. Children who are groomed on chat forums and apps often go out to meet their abusers, in person, in the community. We therefore need alternative activities for children so that they are not reliant on the online world. We need safe places, such as youth clubs and community centres, for young people to congregate and interact safely, under supervision, because today many children find themselves victims of crime. They may see someone they know murdered and have to deal with the unbelievable trauma that that entails. Will the Government start to open youth clubs across the country to help stop children and young people resorting to joining gangs, which lead them down county lines, on a path of knife crime and drug abuse, with sometimes fatal consequences?

The gracious Speech contains some welcome signs that children’s needs are now being taken seriously but, as always, much will depend on the funding available and the Government’s willingness to be ambitious on behalf of those who need us most. To ensure that this happens, will the Government respond to the call, by me and others, for a Cabinet-level Minister for Children, whose role will be to co-ordinate policies that affect children—our future?