Education and Adoption Bill (Third sitting)

Graham P Jones Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2015 Public Bill Committees

[Bill Esterson]

As long as he does not charge me, I will be more than happy. Without risking a further intervention or wanting to challenge his legal expertise or that of the other lawyers in the room—

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Too many!

[Bill Esterson]

It is amazing how many lawyers find their way into this place, but it is probably time to move on from criticising the legal profession.

My hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff West made the important point that we should avoid delays by any means—let alone the risk of judicial review—given the importance of permanence, of the attachment of young people coming into the care system and of the need to make swift decisions about where a child should be placed and whether every effort should be made to keep them with their birth parents or within the extended family, or whether another form of permanence is right for them. Coming back to the Children and Families Act 2014, one thing that the Minister has rightly focused on in his efforts over the past few years is increasing the speed of decision making. It is important to ensure that a child has the certainty of permanence, and any delay is to be avoided as much as possible.