Children and Young People

Earl of Listowel Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd January 2013 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[The Earl of Listowel]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that children and young people in the care of the state, and making the transition from state care, experience reliable and enduring relationships, including with siblings, foster carers and social workers.

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

I thank the noble Earl for his gracious words. This is the first time that I have addressed your Lordships’ House, and it is a great honour to be able to do so. I thank the House and the staff for being so incredibly welcoming and kind and, as this is my first appearance at the Dispatch Box, I am tempted to say, “Long may it continue”.

I thank the noble Earl for raising an important issue for my first Question because, although it is not within my department’s brief, it has troubled me for many years. Lasting and supportive relationships are particularly important for children in care and their long-term outcomes. That is why we are taking action to increase the speed and number of adoptions, to improve the recruitment and training of foster carers and social workers, and to raise the quality of care in children’s homes. We also have a programme of work to improve support for care leavers making the important transition into adulthood.

[The Earl of Listowel]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply and his gracious words. I welcome him to the House of Lords, congratulate him on his appointment to the Front Bench, and apologise to him for not putting those words a little earlier in these discussions.

The children in care who often have the most broken relationships are those in children’s homes, often having had many placements in foster care before arriving there. Is the Minister aware of the very good example of Break children’s homes in Norfolk, where the average stay for a child is two years—often children will stay for four years or more—and active efforts are made by the homes to keep in touch with children once they move on into adulthood? Will the Minister look at this best practice to see whether it can be applied more widely to children’s homes in general where the turnover is high? On average it is seven months.

[Lord Nash]

I shall try to get the words out in the right order now. I agree that many children in children’s homes have had failed foster placements. Our statistics show that 29% of children placed in children’s homes have had five or more previous placements. I have met quite a few children who have had over 20 placements. That is why we set up the expert working group: to look at how to improve the quality of support these children receive, building on good practice. This group has now reported to Ministers, and Ministers will make announcements on this shortly. We recognise Break’s impressive record—four years is an impressive average length of stay—and that is why we invited Hilary Richards of Break to be a member of the department’s expert group on quality.