Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Lord Carlile of Berriew Excerpts

Thursday 1st May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Carlile of Berriew (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the Government for introducing what I hope will leave this House as an improved example of vital legislation for children. Every generation owes it to the next to give them better life chances than were experienced by their parents. Nowhere is this more important than in the area of special educational needs legislation and provision. I applaud the excellent speech made earlier in this debate on that issue by the noble Lord, Lord Addington.

When she was opening this debate, the Minister cited some excellent reports that have appeared in recent times. I am about to add an additional report that was launched last week in this building by the Michael Sieff Foundation, with which I have worked for a number of years, on issues related to children’s justice. The launch was attended by two government Ministers.

The report seeks to show how to provide the best life for children with SEND and neurodivergence issues which, in many cases, bring them in front of the criminal justice system. In England and Wales, 80% of children cautioned or sentenced within the youth justice system are from the SEND cohort. That is a shocking figure, and it is carefully measured. Children with neuro-disabilities enter custody at higher rates, from an earlier age, receive longer custodial sentences, are associated with higher rates of reoffending, commit more violent crimes as adults, and spend many more years in prison. That can be resolved by attending to those children’s needs in the education system earlier in their life and keeping them out of criminal justice activity.

Each year, more than 100,000 children under 18 have encounters with the criminal justice system. Some of those encounters scar them for life, because the criminal justice system, try as it does, is not always very good at dealing with children due to a lack of training and of understanding of the issues that are being dealt with. The proportion of children remanded in custody is at a record high. The number of sentenced children in custody is now mercifully low, but a ridiculous number remain in custody on remand and then do not receive custodial sentences when they are finally dealt with.

Almost all children in the criminal justice system have special educational needs and/or neurodivergence. It exacerbates challenges in communication and social interaction and makes it very difficult for them to lead a good life when they leave custody. One of the issues is that information is so poorly shared. I did a report when Michael Gove—the noble Lord, Lord Gove, as he is about to be—was Secretary of State for Education on the Edlington case. The details do not matter, but what was revealed to me during the preparation of that report was that the communication between statutory agencies for children with special educational needs and home difficulties was almost non-existent.

I hope to table amendments in an effort to persuade the Government to incorporate some of the forms which are proposed in the CIF report if legislation is needed as part of the Bill. The provision in schools for children’s well-being generally must include avoiding involvement in the criminal justice system. We owe it to children to somehow persuade them that living by the rule of law is a component of a full and rewarding life.