"On the last point that my noble friend made, it is precisely because of the importance of accountability that we will work with Ofsted to ensure that the measurement of enduring relationships and the development of enduring relationships are at the heart of the inspection process.
"First of all, there is the structure being put in place through the implementation plans that the Government are producing, through the national framework, which has been relatively recently reviewed, and through the structures being proposed as part of the strategy. The best way to think about this is that …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"The right reverend Prelate makes a very important point. It is, of course, the objective of the Staying Close programme to enable young people, once they have left care, particularly if they were in residential care, to be able to continue to receive support. I will certainly go back and …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"The noble Lord makes a really important point—notwithstanding the fact that my relationship with the Guides lasted about three weeks so could hardly be described as enduring. However, for many people, faith groups and youth groups of the sort that he has identified could well be the types of environments …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"I thank the noble Lords opposite for their welcome of the Government’s proposals around enduring relationships. The noble Baroness, Lady Cash, is right that the independent review of children’s social care was commissioned by the last Government and led by my honourable friend Josh MacAlister, the Minister for Children and …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"The noble Baroness makes an important point, and we talked about this at various points during the passage of the Bill. I assure her that in all the action that we take, particularly in children’s social care, we will want to centre children’s voices in the action being taken at …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"The noble Lord knows from his experience about the range of traumas that young people, even those who have not been in care, may well be reflecting. As he says, severe mental health needs may be one of them. That is why we are introducing mental health support into schools …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"The noble Lord makes an important point. To come back to the point I made earlier, we have changed things in the law such as the requirement for family group decision-making at an earlier stage. In this strategy we spell out clearly the need to change practice to focus on …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"The reason why we discussed that in the proceedings on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was precisely because we were taking action in that legislation to tackle this problem. We are empowering local authorities to secure the best placements for looked-after children at a price that is fair to …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"The noble Lord is right that this is a period of local government reorganisation. It is also a time when local government finances are under considerable pressure, not least from having to find placements in an unplanned way, which is likely to lead to unexpected and very high costs. The …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech