Children and Families Bill

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Monday 14th October 2013 Grand Committee

[Baroness Benjamin (LD)]

My Lords, I support this amendment because as a child I was separated from my siblings for a while, which was quite customary. It happened in the Caribbean, but it is the same experience no matter in which part of the world we are. I know how important it is to feel that we can speak to our siblings if we are going through some trauma in our lives. Children from diverse backgrounds who live here in Britain go through hell almost every day. I always say that their life is like a marathon. To have siblings there to help with bonding and to give confidence to face the world is terribly important. I am here to passionately support this amendment because of personal experience.

[Lord May of Oxford (CB)]

I turned up explicitly to support the amendment and am reassured that I need not have done. I hope that people will take heed of those remarks and recognise that, in addition to the amendment, somebody should be looking at the idiots who are doing what they are doing.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Earl of Listowel]

My Lords, I omitted to comment on the amendments of the noble Baroness, Lady Stedman-Scott. I support her welcome amendments. Of course, children in residential care are among the most vulnerable. Unfortunately, the way it works is that there tends to be a placement in foster care and, if that does not work out, then it is in residential care several broken placements down the line. So the ones with the most complex needs are often in residential care and they need the most support.

I welcome what the noble Baroness has said. There is an issue about price and other issues around it. One solution offered by Jonathan Stanley, a former chief executive of the National Centre for Excellence in Residential Child Care, is to pair up young people in residential care with foster carers so that—one can do a staying-put—one can ensure that there is a seamless move from a residential setting to a foster setting for at least some of these young people to the age of 21.

Norfolk is a very good exemplar of break-home practice. There they have supported housing right by the children’s home so that there is little movement for the children and they can feel in touch with the staff in their old setting. The noble Baroness has made some extremely important points and I look forward to hearing the Minister’s reply to her concerns.

[Baroness Benjamin]

My Lords, I support the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Young. I would like to draw the Committee’s attention to the case of a young man I know who was brought up in care for many years. For the first 49 years of his life he kept wondering who he was and where he came from. This affected his relationship with his children—when he eventually had children—and with his wife, who had to deal with his depression. He had a loss of confidence, did not believe in himself and did not feel worthy. After much searching he eventually found out who he was and it completely changed his outlook on life. It changed his mental well-being. He got a better understanding of who he was and started to accept his situation in life. That is why I believe that it is an abuse if we deny any young person information which can help them come to terms with their identity, culture and background if they wish to do so.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, we have had a good debate and I do not intend to talk at any length. However, I wish to make a few quick points.

First, obviously, I welcome and endorse the points made by the noble Baroness, Lady Young. She made an eloquent speech last week about the importance of identity and she has raised the issue in a helpful way today in a different but complementary context. It is no doubt important for children as they are growing up and becoming fully rounded adults to know about their history. It is their history and it is their right to have access to it. We all accept that point.

The second point to make is that we have talked about children and young people leaving care but very often adults can be well into middle age before they really begin to question their identity and want to search for that information. That provides a particular challenge for the people who keep the data because we are talking about keeping it for a very long time. Nevertheless, it is still people’s right to have access to it.

To pick up on a point made last week by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, about people in care who had been bereaved, having lost their parents, one would have hoped that somehow or other we could have lined up all these rights to information and brought them together. We are talking here about the same sorts of issues coming up in a number of different contexts. I would have hoped that somewhere in the midst of all that would be a universal right to that information and that we could address it in that way rather than in a piecemeal way.

Thirdly, I was alarmed to hear noble Lords today talking about data being lost, or indeed being dumped on a doorstep. There is a real issue here concerning the security of the information. It is rather alarming, and I absolutely agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth. What has happened to all those accurate expectations of privacy and security and of records being kept properly? You cannot help but wonder whether there is going to be a scandal at some point with all this stuff coming to light, having been left on a rubbish dump somewhere. I do not think that anybody here has a sense of reassurance that this information is being kept securely in a proper place. Perhaps the noble Lord could address that and say what the requirements are for keeping the information secure.

I should just like to add my support for the amendment. The noble Baroness has raised a very important point, as have the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, and the noble Baroness, Lady Stedman-Scott. In particular, I hope that we will get a chance to debate the whole question of staying in foster care until the age of 21. I know that my noble friend Lady Hughes will respond in more detail on that but I want to pick up one point which the noble Baroness touched on concerning the distinction between foster care and residential care. Clearly, there is a distinction and we have to be careful not just to lump the two issues together. There is a difference for young people leaving residential care, which is, after all, still formally an institutional provision. What those young people really need is a phased transition to independence, rather than just the requirement to stay on until they are 21. They need help over a period of time to find their feet and to find independence. Therefore, while the noble Baroness raised absolutely valid points, I think that we need to separate them out and make slightly separate provision for them. I know that we will debate this in more detail when we come to Amendment 38. Apart from that, we have had a very good debate and I thank noble Lords.

Children and Families Bill

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Wednesday 9th October 2013 Grand Committee

[Baroness Walmsley]

My Lords, I would like to make two points. First, I agree with the noble Baronesses, Lady Lister and Lady Jones, about the danger of transgressing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. I will address the point made about respect by the noble Baroness, Lady Perry, when I come to my second point.

I am going to give the Committee an anecdote. I am sorry, but this is why I am so passionate about believing that the well balanced solution of the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, to the perceived problem is much better than taking the issue out altogether. It is the fact that my son and his wife, in addition to having their own two white, blond boys, have adopted a Chinese daughter. Cathryn is a wonderful little girl and she is much loved by the whole extended family. For the past seven years, she has been very successfully adopted and I very much hope that it continues that way. Of course, when going out in public with her family she might as well have a big sign on her forehead saying, “I am adopted”, because she clearly looks different. It was so important that her adoptive parents were sensitive to difference and its importance, and to the importance of cultural, racial and ethnic identity. They are approaching the adoption of their little Chinese daughter with all that in mind. That is why I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Perry, that we must ensure that where there is transracial or transethnic adoption, the matching is right. That is more important than the child and the parents having the same skin colour.

I would also say to the Committee that ethnicity really matters; I absolutely agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Young. That is why it is important that you find the right adoptive family. If the race, culture and ethnicity are different, they have to understand, be sensitive to and take account of that as they help the child to develop into a fully fledged grown-up with an understanding of their ethnic and cultural background. To throw it out altogether puts the Government in great danger of the pendulum swinging in the opposite direction and no account being taken at all of the difference in ethnicity. If they did that, they would be in danger of finding adoptive families who, although they were very well intentioned, did not have that sensitivity to difference and to the importance of the cultural identity of the child.

That is so important when you have a transnational, transracial, transcultural or transethnic adoption. The fact is that we are going to have some of those because there is a mismatch between the pool of children of ethnic majorities who are waiting for adoption and the ethnicity of families who are prepared to adopt them. Until we get equal numbers in those two pools, we will have transracial and transethnic adoptions. However, the important thing for the success of the adoption is that the matching is right. The danger is that if you take out reference altogether instead of putting it in the checklist, as has been so sensibly suggested, you will get a mismatch and have unsuccessful adoptions. Alternatively, the adoption will complete until the child is an adult but that adult will be damaged by the lack of consideration having been given to their background.

This is terribly important. I can tell your Lordships that it can be very happy and successful—because I have personal experience of that—and I very much recommend that it happens where a child needs a loving family. Those considerations really matter, though, and we must not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

[Baroness Benjamin (LD)]

My Lords, I support the amendment. Living in Britain as a culturally diverse person can be very challenging and you need to be well prepared to face the challenges and adversities, which can be never-ending, even if you are living with your birth family. When you are different, you have to be confident about who you are as a person.

Since I spoke about this issue at Second Reading, I have been contacted by those who are for and against my stance that “due consideration” of a child’s religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural background when being placed for adoption should not be removed but should be included as an important part of the Bill.

We all agree that adoption between races adds another invaluable dimension to the adoption experience which cannot be ignored, because living in a loving family is priceless. However, the evidence points to ethnic background being a significant factor which cannot be ignored, and this has been said to me over the past few months by both children and adults who have been adopted. That is why I believe that social workers need to ensure that prospective carers can respond positively to the ethnic background of the child and consider what implications this may have as they grow up, especially during their adolescence, reflecting on their identity and heritage.

The British-Chinese adoption study by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering in 2012 found that this was an important consideration among young Chinese people who were placed with families with whom they could not identify, unlike the story that my noble friend has just told about the little girl whom her family has adopted. If a child experiences racism or rejection because of their religion or culture, they may feel isolated and not able to share this with anyone within the family. Being visibly different from family members can also result in a sense of feeling as though you do not belong, along with a loss of confidence, which I mentioned earlier.

I know that the Government recognise this as an important factor, but I believe that we are in dangerous territory if we remove consideration of it altogether from legislation. Do we really understand what the impact of these changes would be? Do we really understand what would happen and the message that we would be sending out? Nothing that has been said to me can convince me that such consideration by a court or adoption agency when coming to a decision relating to the adoption of a child is not important. Social workers need to be sensitive to this factor and to work with parents, who need to be able to understand the identity of the child they are adopting. This should not be a stand-alone but should be included in the child’s welfare checklist along with religion, culture and language, as so passionately put by the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, and as recommended by the House of Lords Select Committee on Adoption Legislation. It should not be the be all and end all, and nor should all the emphasis be placed on it, but it should be considered.

Equally important is the need to encourage more diverse families to become adoptive parents. That is not something that many people from diverse backgrounds consider, but there are ways in which we can make people realise that they can play an important part in our community.

We also need to improve the long-term stability for culturally diverse children by helping to boost permanence for these children beyond adoption, and the consideration of kinship care and long-term foster care. That is why I believe that everyone needs to support this amendment, for the sake of the well-being of the children whom I speak about who feel that they want to be part of this society and feel as if they belong.

[Lord Nash]

My Lords, a number of moving contributions have been made to this debate, particularly by my noble friends Lady Perry and Lady Walmsley. I know that we are all trying to find the right way forward in a difficult area. The noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, is vastly experienced in these matters, and I hesitate to gainsay her. The noble Baroness, Lady Young, asked for some evidence. I would like to provide some, underline what is behind the Government’s position and reaffirm that my department’s main aim is to ensure that all children, whatever their background or race, achieve the best start in life.

The Government’s concerns about this can best be summed up in the simple equation that once they have entered the care system, white children are three times as likely to be adopted as black children who have entered the system. Some 6% of white children in care are adopted while 2% of black children are adopted. This is a fact.

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[The Earl of Listowel]

My Lords, I have listened with great interest to this debate. I remember the last days of the previous Government, when there was a great deal of concern from the Minister responsible at the lack of uptake by local authorities of voluntary adoption agencies. She repeated on several occasions, “The evidence is there; the outcomes are better; but it seems that local authorities have the perception that going down that route is more expensive”. Again, there was some debate about the research, but I think it pointed to the fact that in fact it was no more expensive than using local authority adopters. This is just a detail, but I would be interested to know what progress has been made—maybe the noble Baroness mentioned this and I may have missed it in what she was saying—in making better use of voluntary adoption agencies. There has been a huge amount of change in this area.

In the back of my mind, I also have an idea that it might be helpful for a one-page summary of all that has been done by the Government about adoption since they came into office. Maybe I just need to look back at the Second Reading debate; it is probably all there already in the Minister’s opening speech.

[Baroness Benjamin]

My Lords, much of Clause 3 is perfectly reasonable. It would allow the Secretary of State to take action against local authorities that were failing in their duties to recruit adopters by removing those powers from them—quite rightly, too, as long as that is done in a fair way and takes account of steps that local authorities might be taking to improve. There is, after all, an adoption crisis in the country, which the Minister has pointed out, and some local authorities are not stepping up to the plate.

However, children’s charities such as Barnardo’s—I declare an interest as one of its vice-presidents—as well as the Local Government Association have concerns about the fact that the Bill as it stands would allow the Secretary of State to remove responsibility for adopter recruiting from all local authorities. This proposal has caused alarm, which could lead to chaos in the adoption system. There is no guarantee that external providers would be able or willing to take on these services immediately, and any delays across the system will severely damage the chances of some of the country’s most vulnerable children of being adopted. Of course local authorities should be held to account; it is right that the Government can intervene if they are not doing their job properly. However, Clause 3 as it stands effectively allows the collective punishment of local authorities, and this punishment, as Barnardo’s and others have pointed out, would not even solve the problem but would make it worse. I urge the Government to consider Clause 3 very carefully and remove it from these provisions.

[Viscount Eccles (Con)]

My Lords, there are fundamental problems with this clause. As has been said, there is no appeal against directions; the recipient must comply, and promptly. There is no parliamentary scrutiny of directions, and for these reasons directions are usually confined to failures in administration, a point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hughes. I think we all understand that the Treasury is very good at setting out directions about how you should write your accounts. There is not much point in arguing with the Treasury about that matter of administration, but in my view directions are not suitable to implement a change in policy of this type. That is exactly what this clause empowers the Executive to do—change policy. The point has already been made that there is therefore a point of principle here, and I would be grateful for the Minister’s response. Given everything that has gone on, the dissatisfactions or doubts that might emerge between central government and local government could and should perfectly well be settled in the normal course of business. As has been said, Clause 3 goes one step too far, and I could not support it.

Children and Families Bill

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Benjamin]

My Lords, we all agree that the Children and Families Bill is an important and welcome piece of legislation. As I always say, childhood lasts a lifetime, so I congratulate the Government on looking after the needs and well-being of children to give them a solid foundation and a stable future. However, even good Bills can be improved, and there are a number of extra commitments that the Government could make that would extend the Bill’s reach even more.

I have been working closely with the NSPCC and Barnardo’s and declare an interest as a vice-president of the latter. They are both convinced that the Government should use this Bill as an opportunity to provide even more support for young people, including children suffering from sickle-cell disorder, young carers and those leaving the care system, who are among the most vulnerable in our society.

The NSPCC and Barnardo’s have also raised some key points which have caused them grave concerns on adoption and family justice. They do not support the removal of due consideration of a child’s religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural background when placing children for adoption. Adoption between races adds another dimension to the adoption experience which cannot be ignored. Existing evidence points towards ethnic background being a significant factor because if a child experiences racism, they may feel isolated and unable to share it with anyone. A child being visibly different from family members may also result in them having a sense of not belonging or feeling unable to identify with their family. I believe we would be in dangerous territory should we remove consideration of this factor altogether from legislation because do we really understand the impact of these changes and the message they send out? I believe it must be considered by a court or an adoption agency when they are coming to a decision relating to the adoption of a child. Parents need to be able to understand the identity of the child they are adopting, so this should be included in the child’s welfare checklist along with religion, culture and language, as recommended by the House of Lords Select Committee on adoption. We need to encourage more people from culturally diverse backgrounds to adopt.

Much of Clause 3 is perfectly reasonable. It allows the Secretary of State to take action against local authorities which are failing in their duties to recruit adopters by removing these powers from them, but this must be done in a fair way. After all, there is an adoption crisis in the country. Children’s charities and the Local Government Association have concerns about the fact that the Bill allows the Secretary of State to remove responsibility for adopter recruitment from all local authorities. This could lead to a catastrophe in the adoption system because there is no guarantee that external providers would be able or willing to take on these services immediately, and any delays across the system would severely damage the chances of some of the country’s most vulnerable children being adopted. It will not solve the problem but will make matters worse.

Moving on to family justice, there are huge concerns that the 26-week time limit could make evidence-based interventions that take longer than the specified time limit more difficult, so we must ensure that there is sufficient time for the appropriate assessments to take place. Programmes such as the NSPCC’s infant and family team inform professionals, help court decisions on whether maltreated children can be reunited with their birth family or should be placed for adoption with their foster family as well as assist parents in addressing problems, but all this requires 12 to 15 months before a final recommendation is made. Although the Bill provides for eight-week extensions, continually adding them causes uncertainly for all, so we must ensure that this policy does not bring any unintended consequences that impact negatively upon the best outcome for children.

Finally I ask the Government to give serious consideration to the addition of a new clause to cover the children’s performance licensing regulations, which are seriously outdated and bear no reflection on the modern day. This was discussed during the Report stage of this Bill in the Commons, and I hope it will be taken up enthusiastically by this House as it addresses children’s well-being.

At the meeting last month of the APPG for children, media and the arts, which I chair, there was a presentation by Pact, which represents independent film and television producers. I declare an interest as an independent producer, and I speak from personal experience on this issue. Pact raised the concerns of those in the broadcasting industry, including the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, which were present at the meeting. They strongly believe that the current legislation, which dates back to the 1960s when there were only three television channels, needs to be reformed and that there is great urgency to modernise the child performance regime. There is huge uncertainty on the rules for child performers on popular shows such as “Britain’s Got Talent” and for observational documentaries where child licences are not needed and the well-being of children is left up to production companies which in turn are unsure about the full extent of their responsibilities.

The current system places greater emphasis on bureaucracy and form-filling than on the needs, rights and welfare of the child, so the rules need to be enhanced and updated in order fully to protect children in today’s media environment, including online production, and to put adequate protections in place to ensure their health and well-being at all times. Local education authorities retain a significant amount of discretion on whether to license a child performance, leading to a postcode lottery across the UK. This needs to be addressed. There needs to be consistency. Oddly, there are greater restrictions around children participating in film and television production than in theatre. Although there are Ofcom guidelines for broadcasters, legislation for everyone involved in the employment of children in all fields of entertainment is being proposed to avoid widespread confusion.

Child physiologists have called for legislation ensuring children are protected from all aspects of a rapidly changing media world, which many children and young people want to be part of as they find it enthralling and alluring. The National Network for Children in Employment and Entertainment—the NNCEE—the majority of members of which are local authority officers, has stated that it would like to see a simple, future-proofed framework that offers equal opportunity to all children while ensuring they are properly safeguarded and, most importantly, have trained and qualified chaperones. Sarah Thane’s report and the Government’s consultation last year were warmly welcomed by the broadcasting and production industry, and those in the media industry are extremely disappointed that the Government have decided not to take forward these proposals for reform, having mainly taken the local authorities’ opinion into consideration on this issue. It is imperative that this decision is reversed, so I hope that the Government heed the warnings from this wide range of organisations—the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Pact and NNCEE—as well as schools and child physiologists and give this proposal full consideration to show they truly value children’s welfare and long-term well-being and therefore add a new clause to this important Bill. Let us not end up regretting missing a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

Children: Adult Material Online

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Wednesday 19th June 2013 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Benjamin]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to protect children from easily accessing pornography and other adult material online.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools (Lord Nash)]

My Lords, through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, jointly chaired by three government Ministers, the Government have gained commitment from the five main internet service providers actively to encourage new and existing customers to switch on parental internet controls if children are in the household. Public wifi providers are now filtering pornography in public places, and there is work under way with device manufacturers and retailers to encourage greater availability of parental controls.

[Baroness Benjamin]

I thank my noble friend for his Answer. Unfortunately there are many vulnerable children without parents, or who have uninterested parents, so no amount of awareness education will do anything for these kids. Many are already re-enacting pornographic behaviour on other children, as highlighted by the NSPCC. So will the Minister tell the House, as the service providers are working on filtering for new customers, why the Government do not insist that they offer filtering for their existing customers, and block porn and adult material by default as part of the solution to protect all children before they end up in a moral wasteland?

[Lord Nash]

We have asked the ISPs actively to encourage people to switch on parental controls if there are children in the household, whether they are new or existing customers. The ISPs regularly contact existing customers through e-mails and on their bills. We also want the ISPs to put in place measures to check that the person setting up the parental controls is over the age of 18. The five main domestic ISPs, which cover 90% of households in the UK, have committed to ensure that these measures are in place for existing as well as new customers by the end of this year.

Children: Care

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Wednesday 13th March 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Nash]

My Lords, our consultation on adult/child ratios will continue until 25 March. We should not pre-empt its outcome. The changes that we have proposed to the ratios are not obligatory. Providers will be under no obligation to change the way in which they operate. Our proposals are about giving freedom to high-quality providers to use their professional judgment to decide for themselves how to deploy their staff to best meet the needs of the children for whom they care.

[Baroness Benjamin]

My Lords, from September, 20% of two year-olds—those from the poorest backgrounds—will become eligible for free early-years education for the first time, which will be so important for their brain development. How will the Government make sure that there are enough new, high-quality nursery places to take those extra children, and enough early-years workers, who will be responsible for their emotional, social and language development as well as their safety?

[Lord Nash]

We are doing a great deal of work with local authorities and other providers to ensure that these spaces are available. The department is allocating funding to local authorities at an average hourly rate of £5.09 for statutory two year-old places. This is a competitive rate that will encourage providers to deliver the places. We know that private and voluntary-sector providers and childminders are already delivering more places for two year-olds, paid for by local authorities. The proposals set out in More Great Childcare will encourage investment in better-qualified staff and in their training, so that more two year-olds can be cared for by professionals who are well equipped to help them develop, learn and prepare for school.

Education: Early Years

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Thursday 8th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Benjamin]

My Lords, I too thank my noble friend Lady Walmsley on securing this important debate. Her total commitment over the years to ensure that we provide high-quality education for all children has to be praised and admired. Like her, I, too, believe in the important role that early years education plays in determining the development of children’s health and well-being. That happens not just through what takes place in the classroom—building confidence, learning to communicate, or using their imaginations to be creative when they play—but through ensuring that their surroundings and facilities are of the highest standard. That is often overlooked and sometimes it is taken for granted that adequate provisions are in place. I speak specifically about the provision of proper toilet facilities for all children.

Our children spend most of their waking hours at nursery or school and good health habits, as well as bad, are formed in this setting, which in turn shapes behaviour into adulthood. That is very evident among children who suffer from paediatric continence problems, a group that totals around 900,000 young people in the UK. It is essential that we do what we can to address this situation and to help solve this problem, which often starts in the early years.

It is clear that more needs to be done to regulate the quality of toilet provision in early years settings and throughout childhood. I was shocked to discover the current state of school toilet facilities in the UK. A large randomised study found that 23% of schools did not have hot water, 31% had no soap, 35% had missing toilet seats and 25% had missing locks on cubicle doors. It is hardly surprising that UK studies find that between one-third and two-thirds of children avoid using school toilets because they are unhygienic, poorly maintained or lack privacy.

Poor facilities pose a serious infection risk and avoiding going to the toilet causes children to develop continence problems. These problems can lead to long-term health complications, acute hospitalisation and unnecessary costs for the NHS. They also come at a sensitive time of emotional and physical development, leading to low self-esteem, bullying and, sometimes, family problems where children can be punished for this perceived lack of control.

Furthermore, it is recognised that children who try to avoid using the toilet often restrict their drinking during the day. That leads to dehydration, which affects concentration and learning. This means that they are not achieving to their full potential. If children do not drink enough during the day, their bladders do not develop to become large enough to hold liquid when they sleep at night, which leads to bed-wetting and, in turn, causes a lack of confidence and misery.

We need to ask ourselves whether the standards for children’s school toilets are lower than those for adult employees. The answer is yes. Perhaps the Minister can tell us why the Government are currently removing the few regulations in place for children, which will widen this disparity and mean that there is no substantive protection for children. Surely, the Government must ensure that schools provide for all children’s needs, including adequate toilet facilities, and do not concentrate just on academic, sporting and cultural provision.

There is strong public support for improved standards for adequate toilet facilities. A survey from the children’s continence charity, ERIC, conducted with Netmums in 2011, showed that 80% of parents want stronger standards. Recently, support was also shown by 1,200 healthcare professionals, parents and teachers who signed an ERIC petition opposing the Government’s removal of standards.

While I welcome the minimal guidance provided at the early years foundation stage, which includes toileting goals and a recommendation on the number of toilet facilities that should be provided, there is no doubt that overall higher standards are required. The excuse that we need to reduce regulations should not stand in the way of our children’s health and well-being.

The Government have a moral duty to ensure that children have at their disposal high standards for school toilets throughout their early years and school life. These standards should be at least equivalent to those provided for adults in the workplace. This would be simple to deliver and would improve health outcomes for children and reduce unnecessary NHS expenditure in the long term.

Will the Government ensure that the health and well-being of children is safeguarded in this respect? Will they make sure that every school in the country caters for its pupils in a wholly holistic way, putting their essential basic needs first, in order to give children the dignity and the respect that they deserve, which will influence their behaviour for life?

Children: Looked-after Children

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Thursday 25th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Benjamin]

My Lords, I thank the noble Earl for securing this important debate and congratulate him on his excellent speech. I declare an interest as a vice-president of the children's charity Barnardo’s, which has extensive knowledge and experience of looked-after children in residential care. I speak today about the charity’s concern.

There are currently more than 6,000 children in residential care homes. These are often the most vulnerable children with the highest levels of need. These children usually do worse on a whole range of measures, including educational achievement and social well-being, than other children in the care system—that is, those who are being fostered or who have been adopted. This is not to argue against the use of residential care. For some, it is the most appropriate, and sometimes the only, option. But we need to make sure that we get it right for these particularly vulnerable children.

I am particularly concerned about the vulnerability of young people in residential care to sexual exploitation. This issue has gathered much attention in the media recently, but Barnardo’s has been working on it for several years. Barnardo’s works with young people who have been exploited and staff hear how men wait outside care homes to befriend these unwitting children. They befriend them with gifts and pretend kindness, waiting for the child to fall in love with them before abusing them.

I want to be clear about what I am talking about. The term “sexual exploitation” is a euphemism. We are talking about young people being manipulated by predatory abusers who often use drink and drugs, and then being raped, often repeatedly. One 15 year-old girl whom Barnardo’s worked with went missing from her residential care home. Eventually, she revealed what was happening to her. A man aged 33, more than twice her age, had been taking her away, abusing her and tying her up, then taking videos of her and posting them on the internet. Barnardo’s hears of how other children return to their care homes with severe physical damage from the rape they experience time and time again. This all makes me weep, and I am sure it makes noble Lords weep too. It shames us as a society that we allow this horror to happen.

Organisations such as Barnardo’s do a lot to repair the damage that is done to these young people, but where a child’s home is provided by the state they should be able to feel safe there, especially as many of these vulnerable children have already been through abusive and traumatic experiences in their young lives. So what needs to be done? We need to look at who is charged with the responsibility of looking after these children. I find it greatly concerning that such a low qualification standard is required in order to work in residential care homes. Underqualified staff may have excellent experience, empathy and interpersonal skills, but specialist qualifications would, if administered correctly, only add to these skills. The national minimum training standards are welcome, but surprisingly they are not a requirement, and therefore we must ensure that best practice becomes common practice. To safeguard and protect these vulnerable children, all staff should be trained to recognise the signs of sexual exploitation such as, for example, prolonged or unexplained absences from the care home, or frequently having unexplained gifts or money. Most important is that they should know how to respond effectively.

Noble Lords may have seen the map of the location of children’s homes published in the Times earlier this year. It shows a clustering of homes in certain areas of the country and demonstrates that the majority of care homes are located in those areas where property is the cheapest. As the noble Lord, Lord Laming, said in his speech, it cannot be right for the price and availability of property to be the key determining factor in where residential care is placed. We clearly should not be putting our most vulnerable young people into areas of high crime, drug use and established sex industries, areas where young children can easily be preyed upon. It does not have to be like this and it should not be like this because there is considerable scope for alternative forms of provision. For example, Barnardo’s is piloting a project that involves using specialist, highly trained foster carers to care for children who are the most at risk of sexual exploitation. It is great that the Government have supported this time-limited pilot, but I urge them to consider how it can be continued and to look at other innovative approaches.

In the debate on the Queen’s Speech, I mentioned that there is also a need for much more joined-up working, in particular between those concerned with child protection and looked-after children, who sadly do not always communicate well. We need to see a real focus from the Government on this issue. They have been paying a lot of attention to adoption and fostering, and this looks to be continued in the children and families Bill. That is most welcome, but we also need to look really carefully at residential care. I want to ask my noble friend if the Government will take this issue seriously and give it some consideration. I await with great interest the report due in December of the quality expert group. It has been looking at the quality of provision in children’s homes, including the commissioning, location and ownership of the homes, as well as the qualifications and skills of the workforce.

Improving the experiences of young people in residential care is not a simple matter and there is certainly no magic bullet. But we have an absolute moral and social duty to do everything we can to care for children who have no one else to care for them. The Government have shown real leadership with their publication of an action plan on sexual exploitation. However, we are only at the beginning of a long road. I urge the Government to consider this matter very carefully, and to act decisively and with urgency to protect the most vulnerable children in society. They deserve it, and we must all make sure that this happens.

Education: Development of Excellence

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Thursday 18th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Benjamin]

My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend for securing this important debate on education, which allows us to discuss how we can nurture and inspire future generations to aspire.

My mum always used to say, “Education is your passport to life. Go to school and learn to the best of your ability because you can use that gift of education to change the lives of others”. That is why we must make sure that we give all children every opportunity to secure that special gift of education to reach their full potential. However, not all children get that opportunity, especially if they are at a disadvantage and cannot learn at the same pace as others in the class. So there is a need for creative ways to assist these children in order to make them feel included and for them to achieve their best.

One way to assist those with learning and communication difficulties, emotional and behavioural problems, as well as ADHD, is through the use of music. Research has shown that music can produce exceptional results in learning. Children with autism can also significantly benefit from learning through music. Research has shown that if a child is taught a poem without music, they forget it by the following week, but if they learn the poem musically, they remember each word perfectly a week later.

However, music should be available not only for children with learning difficulties; it should be part of all children’s cultural well-being. Research evidence has shown that a quality music education can improve academic attainment in areas such as numeracy, literacy and language.

Sadly, because of money restraints, not all schools view music as a priority, and the responsibility has fallen to many charitable organisations to bridge this gap. Organisations such as the World Heart Beat Music Academy provide musical experiences for children and young people of all social and cultural backgrounds. It gives them a sense of purpose. One young person who has benefited from the academy said, “If it wasn’t for playing music, I wouldn’t be alive. I used to carry a knife a few years ago, but music changed all that. Playing an instrument is my protection now—I just don’t need any knives or weapons on me”. Another commented, “It’s all about gangs these days. You can see the difference between those who do music and those who don’t. We have something to take our minds off things. Instead of going out on the streets and selling drugs and stuff, we have music”. Learning and playing music with others enables young people to feel that they are a part of something—something that nobody can take away from them.

In the current global economic situation, where the widening “have” and “have not” gap has marginalised young people who can see no way out of their disadvantage and isolation, the power of music can transform their lives. The Henley review stated:

“There remains a great deal of patchiness in provision of Cultural Education across England”.

So I ask my noble friend whether the Government will encourage all schools to make adequate provision for music a priority, especially where children are in need of this type of stimulant for their mind, body and soul, and, most importantly, for their well-being, to help them to go out into the world and make a difference to society—for good.

Schools: Well-being and Personal and Social Needs

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Thursday 14th June 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Benjamin]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, for securing this important debate because, according to the saying, school days are the best days of your life. But I have always thought that it should be changed to, school days are the most important days of your life, because the school experience can either make or break you. Childhood lasts a lifetime and the early foundation stages are the most important of a child’s life. That is when the billions of brain cells are forming connections, so good nursery and primary school teaching is essential to the foundation of a child's development. That is the time when they need the best teachers. A nursery or primary school teacher is just as important as a university lecturer; they do the same core job.

Teaching and learning should not be a box-ticking exercise for either teacher or pupil. We should be helping children to develop their problem-solving skills, to digest and analyse information, to be creative and original and to use their imagination through exposure to music, singing, dance, art, drama and poetry, as well as sports and exercise. Self-discipline is also important, but that comes with the confidence children gain from these types of experiences in the place they spend most of their time—school.

I loved my school days. Starting back in Trinidad, where I was born, we sang the national anthem at the beginning of each school day. It gave me a sense of national pride, which has served me well. Seeing young children waving their union jacks with pride during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, it occurred to me that perhaps we should start each school day with the singing of our national anthem so that they have a sense of national pride embedded in their psyche—because the feeling of being proud of who you are is the best confidence booster, which in turn helps with learning.

I have spent a great deal of my life visiting schools around the country and over the past two decades I have witnessed many changes, mostly for the good. One of the most significant changes I have seen is the way in which schools and those who teach in them have adapted to the diverse society that Britain has become. Something which has developed from this is the way in which schools are nurturing the concept of a more tolerant and considerate society. I have for many years believed that we should, in addition to the core curriculum subjects, allow children from a very early age to delve into the psychology of life and encourage them to explore, discuss and develop fundamental life skills and interpersonal and social skills. Some schools are already doing so. I know a head in a deprived area of north London who invites students in years 5 and 6 to sit around a table in her study to have lunch with her and discuss current affairs—and to hear their views on issues that affect their lives. This helps to develop the children’s social and intellectual skills and build their confidence.

When I am invited to speak in schools, I often use the story of “The Three Little Pigs” to demonstrate simple philosophy. I am sure that noble Lords here are familiar with the story, so I will not tell it today, but when I tell it to young children I show them through the story that to build your life on solid foundation you need to work hard, to do a good job, to think ahead and analyse the situation—and never to give up. It all helps them to cope with life’s big bad wolf. The reaction I get is amazing. Children as young as five really get it and it shows how much teachers need external support from parents, as well as from visiting writers, artists and musicians.

That is why PSHE needs a place at the heart of the curriculum. Delivered creatively, it empowers children to have the moral courage to stand up for what is right; to learn to resist temptation; to say no to bullying, gang culture or drugs and alcohol; to have empathy for others, and to get a better understanding about morality, integrity and honesty. All this should be the foundation of every school’s philosophy, giving children the ability to make good long-term decisions in their relationships and lifestyles, which in turn they will pass on to their children. It is an indirect way of giving them the parenting skills that they might need one day. Schools need to be encouraged to make space in their timetables to offer these opportunities or to integrate them into their lessons—and to feel free and able to do so, not to be inhibited or feel pressured to do otherwise.

These may seem simple concepts but so many children have never had the opportunity to think in a philosophical way, to discuss moral issues or to project their imagination into the future and envisage what their lives may be like if they take a particular course of action. This is why we should seriously consider the teaching of life skills and encourage young children to explore basic philosophy.

Good teachers are so important in all this to help with the well-being and happiness of children, making them want to attend school. We as a society must demand this but we must also hold teachers in the highest regard. Parents and children must be aware that teachers deliver the special gift of education, which can change lives. The fantastic teachers I meet when I visit schools are aware of their responsibilities to every child in their care and that they must treat each one like a delicate piece of porcelain. However, we must continue to strengthen and develop the training of teachers and to continue to raise awareness, in all schools, of children who are in danger of slipping through the net for a variety of reasons. Holistic teacher training is most important, now more than ever.

Many children in our schools come from dysfunctional households, never having any family bonding or attachment, but play therapy can help emotionally damaged or abused children, as in the work done by the British Association of Play Therapists. I declare an interest as patron. However, many schools engage people who have taken a three or four-day part-time course in play work, believing that they are employing a play therapist, at a much lower salary than they would if employing a fully qualified play therapist. A fully qualified play therapist requires a post-graduate two-year course in play therapy plus one year for the MA. To safeguard vulnerable children and to make sure nothing is missed from the child’s play, therapy must and should be carried out by people who are highly trained and skilled in this work. I ask my noble friend to consider setting up a national register of play therapists and not just leave it up to local authorities or schools to engage play therapists who may not have the fully registered and necessary qualifications.

We are here to pay tribute to the tremendous work done in schools and to praise and encourage those who work there. No system is perfect, but as long as we all continue to work together to improve and adapt to the changes in society, we can ensure that our children are in good hands at school.

Education: 16-19 Bursary Fund

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Monday 11th June 2012 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Benjamin]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are planning to measure the impact of the 16-19 bursary fund on young people’s participation in education.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools (Lord Hill of Oareford)]

My Lords, the Government publish annual and quarterly statistics on young people's participation, and we monitor the take-up of the bursary by 16 to 19 year-olds. In addition, we have commissioned an independent evaluation to examine both the process and the impact of the new bursary fund. In order to provide a valid comparison with the impact of the EMA, the study will run until July 2014 and be completed by the end of 2014.

[Baroness Benjamin]

I thank my noble friend for that reply. I am sure that he is aware of the Government’s post-16 transport guidance, which clearly states that local authorities should ensure that accessible and affordable transport is available for all young learners. Research done by the children's charity Barnardo’s—I declare an interest—suggests that many local authorities are not complying with the guidance. Young people mainly use the bursary fund to pay for their transport, and have to pay the full adult fare to colleges and schools. By providing affordable transport, local authorities will reduce the financial pressure on disadvantaged young learners, which is causing many of them to consider leaving their courses. What measures are the Government taking to remind all local authorities of their duty and obligation to provide subsidised travel for young learners?

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

As my noble friend says, local authorities are under a statutory duty to ensure that they make reasonable arrangements for young people post-16 for transport. The Government are monitoring the provision made. We will continue to remind them of that duty. As my noble friend also says, one of the purposes to which the 16-19 bursary fund can be put is to pay for transport costs. Particularly for providers in rural areas, that is an important use.