Oral Answers to Questions

Edward Timpson Excerpts

Wednesday 14th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important issue. I have spoken to campaigners about this matter, and I know that ActionAid, for instance, has spoken to Treasury Ministers as well. Like all international tax matters, it is incredibly complicated once we get into the detail, but it is something that was not dealt with in the past 13 years and which we are now prepared to look into.

[Mr Edward Timpson (Crewe and Nantwich) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend join me in welcoming today’s launch of the Government’s adoption action plan, which sets out how we can achieve more adoptions more quickly? Does he agree that making adoption work well everywhere should be the priority of all of us who have the interests of vulnerable people at heart?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I am sure that we speak on behalf of everyone in the House when we say that it is very frustrating for couples and parents who want to adopt children, and not good for the children concerned, when there are inordinate delays. That is why I think it is a very good thing that there seems to be a general consensus on the announcements made recently by the Secretary of State for Education and the Prime Minister to accelerate the adoption process to ensure that this will now indeed happen.

Oral Answers to Questions

Edward Timpson Excerpts

Wednesday 26th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will certainly look at the issue the hon. Lady raises. I am not fully aware of the situation regarding the police papers and do not want to give her a flip answer across the Dispatch Box. The Government have done what we should have done with regard to the Cabinet papers, but I am very happy to look at the point she raises and get back to her.

[Mr Edward Timpson (Crewe and Nantwich) (Con)]

Q11. Will my right hon. Friend join me in praising all the adopters and foster carers in Crewe and Nantwich and elsewhere for the fantastic work they do and encourage others to come forward to foster and adopt and to recognise during national care leavers week that we can do much more to provide care leavers with the sustained and enduring support that they often need and always deserve?

[The Prime Minister]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. He speaks from great experience, as his parents have helped to foster around 90 children over the past few decades, which I think is a magnificent example. As I said in my party conference speech, we really need to attack every aspect of this issue. It is a national scandal that there are 3,660 children under the age of one in the care system, but last year only 60 were adopted. We have got to do a lot better. Part of it is about bureaucracy and part of it is about culture, but a lot of it is about encouraging good foster parents and adoptive parents to come forward and giving them security in the knowledge that the process will not be as bad as it is now. Thorough-going reform is required. My hon. Friend the Minister with responsibility for children is leading this work and I am confident that we can make some real breakthroughs in this area.