Baroness Pitkeathley
Main Page: Baroness Pitkeathley (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Pitkeathley's debates with the Department for Education
(2 years, 2 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Pitkeathley (Lab)
My Lords, most children in the care system live with foster parents, to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude for their dedication, but many foster parents report that they are not given sufficient information about the background of these children, many of whom have had traumatic experiences, as the noble Lord, Lord Laming, pointed out. Confidentiality is often given as the reason for this, but does the Minister agree that, if foster parents are going to deal adequately with the behavioural problems that may arise, they need to be as fully informed as possible about the background of these children?
Baroness Barran (Con)
The noble Baroness makes a very good point. If it would help to meet some foster parents to understand those issues better, I would be delighted to do so.