Children and Social Work Bill [HL]

Debate between Lord Wills and Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville

Monday 11th July 2016 Grand Committee

[Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville]

My Lords, I shall speak against Clause 15 and support the arguments of the noble Lords, Lord Watson, Lord Warner and Lord Ramsbotham. Clause 15 allows local authorities to be exempted from certain legal requirements and regulations and to test different ways of working. It is important, however, that they do not dilute accountabilities, fragment responsibilities and create a two-tier system of quality and standards. All vulnerable children deserve the same level of care.

Clause 15(3) says:

“The Secretary of State may make regulations under this section relating to a local authority in England only if asked to do so by that authority”.

My view is that it should not simply be at the whim of a local authority and that certain tests should need to be fulfilled to justify it, not least that the exemption should promote better outcomes and more efficient working. It should be clear that inadequate local authorities cannot be exempted from regulations that are crucial for upholding quality standards across the country. Clause 15(4) says:

“Regulations under this section may be made in relation to one or more local authorities in England”.

I seek assurance that the Secretary of State will not use the power under this clause to apply a request from one local authority seeking freedom under subsection (3) to apply it to more than one local authority under subsection (4).

In addition, I believe that statutory social work is best placed within local government, where there are established frameworks for oversight and monitoring. These clauses should not challenge the ultimate legal responsibility of local authorities to safeguard children. We need to avoid greater fragmentation of provision, any blurring and dilution of accountabilities, and any increased risk arising from more multiple hand-offs between disparate organisations. The experience of the NHS is salutary in this context: it is now imposing middle-tier planning arrangements to secure more effective joint working in a fragmented sector.

I am concerned that this clause could create an inconsistent national arena for the delivery of statutory social work duties, which could lead to confusion and a greater divide of practice. For children’s social work to run well, it has to uphold partnerships with a broad range of agencies: schools, police, health services—commissioners and providers—and the local voluntary sector. Local councils are best placed to perform that function.

I note that Scotland has required independent fostering arrangements to be not for profit; that approach could be explored in England. Recent research from Corporate Watch shows that in 2014-15, eight commercial fostering agencies made around £41 million profit between them from providing fostering placements to local authorities, at a time when local authorities have had to make significant budget reductions. Surely that profit could have been used to protect looked-after children.

[Lord Wills]

My Lords, I will not delay the Minister’s response very long. I want to say a few words in support of Amendment 131, to which I have added my name.

I recognise that there is widespread unease about Clause 15. All the noble Lords who have spoken so far have reflected that. The Minister will be aware that there is unease outside your Lordships’ House as well. I recognise that innovation can be crucial to the improvement of public services and I suspect, although I hope to be proved wrong, that the Government will not be unduly swayed by all the compelling arguments that we have heard against the clause. That is why Amendment 131 is important. Innovation, as other noble Lords have said, should not be at the expense of appropriate safeguards for those whom it is designed to help. Although I understand the Government’s intention—to promote new ways of working—as we have heard over and over again, as currently drafted the Bill does not offer adequate protections for those young people against failures in innovation. Amendment 131 aims to help to do so by placing a duty on the Secretary of State to,

“consult children in care, those representing children in care, and care leavers in their area before making a decision to grant an exemption or make modifications under subsection (2)”.

Innovation may be positive from the perspective of the local authority but it will not necessarily be positive from that of the young people affected by it. Children in care and care leavers have been let down by the system for so long that they have earned the right to have their views heard about changes to it. If any changes are to be successful, it is crucial that they are heard. These young people know better than anyone how the system works for them. That is one good reason why Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that, when adults make decisions affecting children, children have the right for their opinions to be taken into account.

The amendment also provides for new, independent scrutiny arrangements and a duty on both the local authority and the Secretary of State to consult children in care and care leavers when a local authority applies for an exemption from the requirements of social care legislation. At Second Reading, the Minister was reassuring about scrutiny arrangements, but I ask him to consider carefully the merits of a new, independent body. Existing organisations all come with their existing viewpoints, cultures and histories—in other words, they come with baggage. The proposed change in Clause 15 is potentially so radical and could have such a dramatic effect on the lives of young people, who already face such huge challenges, that I believe it is important that any organisation scrutinising such arrangements should be dedicated to doing so. It should be able to adopt fresh perspectives and develop specific expertise, which a new scrutiny organisation will be able to do in a way that existing organisations may well not. From his response at Second Reading, I suspect that the Minister is not minded to do this but I hope that he is open to persuasion on that point.