Children and Social Work Bill [HL]

Lord Storey Excerpts

Tuesday 14th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Storey (LD)]

My Lords, children and young people do not choose to be in care, and we as a society have a moral responsibility to do whatever it takes to provide the support that a child or young person needs. There is much to welcome in this Bill. It is another step on that journey to ensuring that we are doing everything possible to support children in care.

I welcomed the comments from the Minister, Edward Timpson, at last week’s briefing when he spoke of his Government’s desire to listen and respond, and the subsequent letter on 14 June from him and the noble Lord, Lord Nash, clarifying the points raised at that briefing meeting. I am therefore a little disappointed that, given that the aim is to use this opportunity to get it right, we finish tomorrow and then, I am told, the first day of Committee will be on the Monday that we return. That might be all right for London-based Members, but for others it does not afford the time needed for briefings and talking, et cetera.

The Bill is not about political point-scoring or some deep political dogma but about recognition that we can and must do everything possible to ensure that support, care and attention is provided. Care is a vital part of child protection. Most young people in care say that they have a very good experiences of care. Let us start by recognising that the majority of children in care are happy, have a loving and caring childhood, and are fulfilled in all that they do.

I remember that there was a children’s home nearby the school where I was head teacher. Two girls from there, Teressa and Claire, came to my school. You could not imagine two nicer girls; they were looked after and cared for. Teressa went on a trip to Lourdes and brought back for me a plastic Virgin Mary with a screw-top halo and holy water inside—I still have it. If the Minister gets the Bill right, perhaps I will present him with the holy water via Teressa.

We must recognise the commitment that local authorities give and praise the thousands of foster parents who give so much in creating a loving environment in which children and young people can thrive and develop. The linchpin, of course, is social workers; hence, the Children and Social Work Bill. Social workers do an amazing job, day in and day out, and have to experience some of the most appalling situations in achieving some of their greatest successes. However, without their dedication and commitment, we would be in a much poorer state. When, very occasionally—and it is occasionally—something goes horribly wrong, there is an immediate outcry and the blame culture sweeps all before it. Yes, we need highly trained and qualified social workers, but we need to support them and not demonise them in their role, or even potentially criminalise them.

Part 2 of the Bill, dealing with social worker regulations, is about enhancing their status. That is fine, but I am not convinced that removing functions from one body and establishing them in another is the best way of achieving this. Governments of all political persuasion seem obsessed with creating new bodies for new policy direction. As the British Association of Social Workers said in its briefing, social work professionals need to be,

“recognised in the development of any new regulatory arrangement—in setting standards and ethics, in providing post-qualifying development frameworks and leading the way on the profession owning its own standards and commitment to highest quality”.

Personal advisers have been and will be an essential support for children and young people in care. I welcome the intention to extend the entitlement to personal advisers to all care leavers up to the age of 25. Even with the important role they fulfil, they are not required to have any specific training. A quick trawl through local authority job adverts for personal advisers highlights that as a problem. Hounslow Council says that no essential qualifications are needed. Medway Council requires a full NVQ level 3 in health and social care and experience working with children and young people. Barnet Council says that no qualifications are required but that there should be experience in pathway plans. Torbay asks for relevant professional social work qualifications and a professional commitment to obtaining an NVQ in childcare and a current certificate of registration from the General Social Care Council. Greenwich Council requires no qualifications but applicants must have knowledge of local and national legal procedures and their relevance to childcare. I could go on. So no national or informal standards are required for personal advisers. I ask the Minister to consider creating a standard for professional advisers given that they are a key part of social care support.

On training and support, I mentioned the incredible job that foster parents do. But once again the induction arrangements, training and continuous training support received are very variable. Given their unique role, should we not be clear about what it is and what should be available and provided for them? I was very much taken with the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hughes, about foster parents becoming personal advisers. We should explore that, but also, as we have heard, young people must have a say. I discovered a new phrase when reading the Minister’s letter on personal advisers. Officials are currently taking a series of “deep-dive visits”. That sounds very painful, but I hope they will take us a step further.

My noble friend Lady Tyler highlighted the need for the importance of mental health screening. The headline statistics are a cause for concern. Almost two-thirds of children in care have experienced abuse and neglect and looked-after children are four times more likely to experience a diagnosable mental health condition. Let us not dance around this one. The mental health resources for children in care must be provided when needed. The Minister will no doubt tell us from the civil servants’ brief that extra resources are provided—the extra resources that Government have and will put into mental health. But my experience is that child and adolescent mental health services have suffered brutally from local authority savings and as a consequence are not proactive. The Education Select Committee report says that the current paper-based method of assessing a child’s mental health during their time in care is insufficient. We are talking about the most vulnerable children who have experienced abuse and neglect. Paper-based? Come on; we can do better than that.

The Bill gives the opportunity to some local authorities to innovate and pilot new ways of working. I am always in favour of innovation, but to innovate we also need resources. I actually consider the most important innovation in the last 20 years was Sure Start centres, yet we have heard how 800 of them have been forced to close. Innovation gives the opportunity to move out of a straitjacket approach, but we have to be absolutely sure that there are no unintended consequences, particularly in eroding the rights of the child. We need, and I am sure that the Minister would want, to place clarity around this proposal, and a commitment from the Government that safeguards will be put in place to prevent further unacceptable variations in care for looked-after children.

My noble friend Lady Hamwee is unable to be at Second Reading. As a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights she is concerned about Clauses 15 to 19, which potentially threaten children’s social care rights. The legal adviser to Article 39, a human rights charity that promotes and protects the rights of children living in state and privately-run institutions, and takes its name from that part of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, has major concerns about the rights of the child. Perhaps in his reply the Minister could give assurances that these issues will be listened to and considered.

I am struck that since the publication of the Bill there has been universal support in favour of its laudable aims, but there are concerns about the delegation to Ministers. The Bill does not talk about funding; instead it talks about extra responsibilities. I seek reassurance from the Minister that arrangements such as the pupil premium will remain at their current levels and that the criteria are not changed in any way. There have also been suggestions to move pupil funding to the virtual school head for distribution rather than to schools themselves. Perhaps the Minister can provide some clarity on this matter.

Over the years we have all been shocked and sickened—that gut-wrenching feeling—when we have heard of cases of child abuse. We have seen how some sink to the lowest imaginable levels of depravity, but thank God we live in a society which can and will do all it can to protect children. I conclude by thanking the Government for bringing this Bill forward and, I hope, for being prepared to listen. The many important points that have been made by your Lordships are worthy of the Minister’s attention. We will do whatever it takes to make sure that our own children are safeguarded, that they have the best chances in life and that they are able to reach and develop their own potential. Never mind our own children, those chances should also be available for children in care.