Care Settings: Right to Maintain Contact

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Thank you for filling in, Ms Butler, and bridging the gap to enable the debate to go ahead. I thank the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton (Dan Carden) for leading today’s debate. As a strong advocate for stability and comfort for young children, I will focus on young children and those unfortunately in care settings. It is important that we do what we can to make their journey through that stage of their life as secure as possible. It is great to be here to speak on that.

I commend the right hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Liz Saville Roberts) for her comments. She cast her mind back to covid and different circumstances, different times, different regulations, and more controlled ways of caring. We do not criticise the covid regulations, because they were important to have in place, but many people were unable to have the last few minutes with their loved ones, who were very much part of their lives. My mother-in-law passed away at the Ulster hospital on her own. My point is that sometimes circumstances do not allow us to do what we would like to do, and that was one of those circumstances.

I want to give a Northern Ireland perspective in this debate, as I always do. I know the Minister is always keen to try to help us when we put forward our suggestions. As of 31 March 2024, almost 4,000 children and young people were in care in Northern Ireland. I will focus on that and how important it is to get it right for them. That was the highest number recorded since the introduction of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. It gives us a perspective on a society and young people in particular in Northern Ireland who are under terrible pressure. The figures are absolutely shocking. We must remember that there are many circumstances that can warrant a child being put into care.

Contact within care settings is important to preserve emotional bonds, social interaction and the friendship that biological siblings share. Although they might fight a bit, the fact of the matter is that there is no greater love than that between a brother and a sister, a brother and a brother, a sister and a sister, or whatever it might be. Being removed from a familial setting and placed in a strange and unfamiliar one can be damaging to a child’s cognitive health, which shows why contact is so important for mental stability.

Another worrying trend from Northern Ireland is the fact that there are those with mental health issues who are as young as eight years old—my goodness. Can we visualise that at eight years old, when someone is young and innocent? Yet the pressures on an eight-year-old are so great. That is what is happening in Northern Ireland. That is why the numbers are so large. Consistent contact has also been proven to achieve better long-term outcomes for families and assist with the transition back to a family dynamic.

I know the Minister is always keen to respond to our queries. What opportunity has she had to contact the relevant Minister in Northern Ireland to ascertain what exchange of ideas, policies, strategies or new approaches there might be to ensure that families can transition back to a family dynamic, which is how it should always be, if at all possible? We live in a fractured society; life is not the same as it was when I was a wee boy. I do not think anybody in this Chamber is as old as me, with maybe one exception, but society as I remember it was so different, and today it is even more challenging.

Contact should not be only for parents; it is imperative that sibling contact is looked at and encouraged to create a sense of normality in care. It is not all about the regime, the rules or the conditions of being there; it is about the relationship between siblings and how they can have some normality. An Ofsted study showed that 86% of children in care thought that it was important to keep siblings together—that is a certainty from the young children themselves. I believe in my heart that it is really important. It is not always possible, but we should strive by all means within our power to ensure that children can keep in touch with their siblings.

The reality is that often many siblings have had and remain in minimal contact. It is terribly sad when those who were part of the same family unit are suddenly hundreds of miles apart. Nobody is at fault, I suspect, but if it is possible to keep them together, we should. For example, for siblings who may come from abusive households—sometimes those are the ones I am aware of as an MP—shared experiences can create a more positive healing journey. I fear that if the same situation continues without any stops or changes, it will hinder the healing process for young children. When they grow up to be parents themselves, what happened to them in the past will make them focus on bringing their children up in a certain way as well, so let us get it right the children of today—the parents of tomorrow.

To conclude, I am a supporter of contact, and I recognise what the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton has contributed in starting this debate. I hope that we can do more to prioritise maintaining contact for young children, parents, siblings and extended families. It is crucial for their mental and emotional wellbeing, and ensuring familiarity can go above and beyond in supporting transitions. There is no doubt that care settings can be incredibly challenging environments. For some children, they are never easy, so let us do what we can—we collectively in this room, and the Government, who have a particular opportunity to make a change, and make the process as stress-free as possible.

I look very much to the Minister, as I often do, for further engagement with the devolved institutions. I would appreciate it if she could do that, to ensure that stronger sibling contact can also be maintained. This debate is so important, so well done to the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton for bringing it forward. There might not be a big number of people here today, but that does not reflect the seriousness or importance of this debate. Those of us who have a personal interest in this issue, and all of us as MPs, have an obligation to our constituents who have asked us to make sure that these things are put on the record.

I believe that we have a great responsibility as MPs. We have an opportunity to formulate law and to support the Government in amending the direction in which they may go, to ensure that young people—the children of today; the parents of tomorrow—can lead a good life. If we try to do that as MPs, and as a Government, we will be building a better society and a better place for everyone to live in. That is my ultimate goal, and one I think we all share. It is a big challenge—let us see if we can do it.