Inclusive Society

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Wednesday 14th April 2021 Grand Committee

[Baroness Benjamin (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, on securing this important and timely debate.

When we think about the post-pandemic world, we must consider what this means from the perspective of children and young people. Our youngest citizens have suffered disproportionately over the last year, especially those from diverse backgrounds, including the Traveller community. It is our duty to make sure that we build a better and more inclusive society for all our children’s futures. As I always say, childhood lasts a lifetime, so the experiences that children have in those precious early years will set the course for the rest of their lives.

Will the Government appoint a Cabinet-level Minister for Children to ensure that children and young people are at the very heart of future policy? I campaigned for 20 years to create a Cabinet-level Minister for Children. This was put in place in 2003 but, over the years, that position has been shamefully downgraded. We need one now more than ever, because it is important not to underestimate the scale of the challenge facing us as we emerge from Covid.

The children’s charity Barnardo’s—I declare an interest as vice-president—led a consortium of more than 80 charities with government funding to help children facing new challenges during the pandemic. The programme See, Hear, Respond reached more than 100,000 children and young people. Sadly, that funding has now ended, so we worry where these children can now turn to for help. Many children have suffered unimaginable trauma in recent months, missing out on school, with the most disadvantaged falling further behind. More children are living in poverty with families struggling to afford the cost of food. Mental health needs have rocketed. One in six children now has a mental health disorder and, crucially, more children are at risk of harm, including online harm.

For many years I have spoken about the growing dangers that the internet creates for children and young people. During the pandemic, children were groomed and abused online at an increasing rate. One-third of children supported by Barnardo’s child sexual abuse services were first groomed over the internet and more and more often we see the pattern of perpetrators befriending children on apps or chat forums. We must also acknowledge the dangers of access to online pornography. Experts agree that, shockingly, many children now first learn about sex and relationships online. Children as young as nine often see extreme and violent pornographic content. This is what shapes young minds. If we are in any doubt of the outcome, we need only read the 15,000 harrowing testimonies of young girls, and boys as well, on the Everyone’s Invited website.

The Government have rightly taken a first step by asking Ofsted for an immediate review, but we know that while children are taking their cues from the most harmful and inappropriate websites we will struggle to drive real change. It is like trying to cure a cocaine addict while at the same time feeding them cocaine. The Government need to take other actions to build a better future for vulnerable children online. One of the first must be to bring forward the long-awaited online safety legislation that is so desperately needed to keep children safe online. While we wait for this delayed Bill, will the Government take urgent action and implement Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act now to ensure that children cannot easily access harmful, violent online pornography? After the year we have had, we must send a clear message that in the UK in 2021 we do not accept that anyone should live in fear of harm and abuse, especially our children.