Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Baroness Young of Hornsey Excerpts

Thursday 1st May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Young of Hornsey (CB)]

My Lords, I welcome the Government’s intention to improve the lives of young people in the care system, which is where I am going to focus my attention. As other noble Lords have pointed out, we are familiar with the negative outcomes arising from being in care. Systemic inadequacies not only affect the individuals and families directly involved, but the ripples spread across society. Fostering is a critical component of the care system, but as the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, and the noble Baroness, Lady Cash, said earlier—and by the way, I support all three points that the noble Baroness, Lady Cash, made about what is not in the Bill—the situation is stark. We do not have enough foster carers, especially from minoritised communities.

The deficiencies in this part of the care system result in a damaging lack of options for children who cannot live with their birth families. Children’s homes are a potential alternative, but it has recently been acknowledged that,

“the quality and safety of children’s homes in England is simply not good enough”,

and that there was,

“much more that we need to do together to put the rights and needs of vulnerable children at the heart of our policymaking”. —[Official Report, Commons, 18/11/24; cols. 24-29.]

As public authorities, local authorities are responsible for the rights of children in their care. There is concern that a recent ruling declared that a private care home was not a public authority, despite the placement in question being funded by a local authority. Since more than 80% of children’s homes are run by private companies, where, then, does that leave the rights of those children in those private sector-run homes? There is a lack of clarity there which needs to be sorted.

What steps are the Government taking to address this problem? Without clarity over their rights, how will the Government deliver on their aim to place vulnerable children at the heart of policy-making?

Both through membership of the All-Party Group on Care-Experienced Children and Young People, and because of my own connections, I am fortunate to have had recently plenty of opportunity to have conversations with many care-experienced young people. They are creative, full of ideas, and they articulate powerfully their experiences. Most importantly, they know what would improve their lives now and when they leave the system.

I have also met with a number of organisations and individuals, including Barnardo’s and the Black Care Experience, led by Judith Denton, which is dedicated to addressing the needs of black and black care-experienced children—from how to tend to black children’s hair and skin, to issues of cultural identity and how to deal with racism. These young people often feel isolated, and their predicaments are ill understood. More foster parents and social workers from those communities are needed, but that is not the whole solution. Can the Minister tell the House how the Government intend to address these challenges in the current care system?

The young people I have met recognise, of course, the damaging aspects of a system in which they have little or no control over their destiny. During these talks, I have been dismayed to find that many of the challenges I experienced in the care system in the 1950s and 1960s persist. Campaigns to designate being care-experienced as a protected characteristic point out that the offer from the state to our children and young people via “corporate parents”, which is one of the most soul-destroying terms ever uttered, is not currently a life-enhancing package. They understand what the “care cliff” means because they live in anticipation of it. They also know how the ruptures they have experienced might be mitigated. They have the knowledge and insight to guide us towards developing the systems and structures that amplify their potential to go beyond survival to thriving.