Children and Social Work Bill [HL]

Lord Ramsbotham Excerpts

Tuesday 14th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ramsbotham (CB)]

My Lords, last Thursday, in moving her Motion on the balance of power between the Government and Parliament, and the case for Parliament having full details of all legislation that it is asked to consider, the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Basildon, introduced an issue that has already come up during our processing of this Bill. She said that there were,

“more provisions for the Secretary of State to use regulations than there are clauses in the Bill, including on issues that should be considered matters of significant policy”.—[Official Report, 9/6/16; col. 860].

Later in the same debate, my noble and learned friend Lord Judge, in addition to making some devastating comments about the increasing number of Henry VIII clauses in current legislation and highlighting the number of them in this Bill, asked,

“when are we going to actually achieve something before our ... arrangements disappear into some vague unknown future?”.—[Official Report, 9/6/16; col. 875].

Both their concerns were echoed in yesterday’s second report of the Constitution Committee, which commented on this Bill:

“We regret that, despite the concerns expressed in the past by this and other committees, the Government continues to introduce legislation that depends so heavily on an array of broad delegated powers”.

Also last Thursday, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child published a damning follow-up report to its previous damning report of 2008, warning that, despite some progress, the United Kingdom Government are not doing enough to prioritise children and give them the opportunity to fulfil their potential. In particular, it said that it is,

“seriously concerned at the effects that recent fiscal policies and allocation of resources have had”,

and that they are,

“disproportionately affecting children in disadvantaged situations”.

With others, I welcome the overall aim of this Bill, which addresses some of the deficiencies criticised by the UN committee. However, I firmly believe that the children’s social care system would be more effective if a whole-system approach was taken to safeguarding and promoting the well-being of children. As I have said many times about proposed improvements to the criminal justice system, further jaw-jaw about the promotion of children’s well-being is all very well, but when will we have war-war on the problems?

Before commenting on the content of the Bill, I would like to ask the Minister three questions about its timing. First, was any consideration given to delaying its publication until after the report from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child? To disregard it would seem both discourteous and unwise. Secondly, why has the Bill been published in advance of the Prime Minister’s promised life chances strategy that we are told is due later in the year? Surely the Bill could have been used to action some of that strategy.

My final question is, I know, beyond the Minister’s competence to answer. However, I ask him to bring it to the notice of the relevant authorities as a matter of urgency. The Companion states that a minimum interval of 14 days should be observed between Second Reading and the start of the Committee stage of a Bill. On this occasion, except for tomorrow, we will be in recess on every one of the mere 13 days that are being allowed. As there seems so little business on the agenda of the House, why this unseemly rush?

To add a purely selfish concern from these Benches, without the help of party offices, preparation for the Committee stage of a Bill, including the framing and tabling of amendments, takes individual Cross-Benchers such as myself a considerable amount of time, including attending organised briefings by experts from outside organisations, which are being denied to us. I submit that particularly for a Bill with such serious implications for vulnerable children, it is essential that working time is made available for us to prepare to do our constitutional duty and that it is totally unreasonable to expect noble Lords to be able to do that blind, in Grand Committee, on the day of our return.

Therefore, while welcoming the stated aims of the Bill, which demonstrate that the way between the Department for Education and this House is paved with good intentions, I admit to a number of concerns about its content, as I know do many others.

Many noble Lords will mention concerns about local offers and the need for the principles of corporate parenting to be extended to all organisations supporting children in care, so I will not do so. Nor will I repeat the many concerns that have been expressed to me about the Henry VIII clauses, Clauses 15 to 19. However, I give notice that I shall table stand part Motions to allow full discussion of them.

I declare an interest as co-chair of the All-Party Group on Speech and Language difficulties. Communication skills are central to a child’s development and educational achievement, and therefore life chances. They enable the child to understand and be understood.

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, in welcoming the aim of the Bill, points out the importance of recognising that such children could have unidentified and/or unmet communication needs, which could prevent them understanding or engaging with the changes that the Bill proposes. Local authorities should be required to conduct mandatory assessments of special educational and speech, language and communication needs on a child’s entry into the care system and provide access to therapy to address identified communication needs, and I will be tabling amendments to that effect. But as the Minister knows, speech and language therapists come under the Department of Health, so cross-government direction will be needed.

The Bill also includes provision for relevant children under the age of 25. But the provision of the Home Office’s Immigration Bill 2016, on which this House has just spent a considerable time, specifically excludes unaccompanied and refugee children from services after they have turned 18. Furthermore, should they wish to appeal against compulsory deportation, they can now do so only from their country of origin. Two-thirds of these unaccompanied children are presently in foster care, in which the Bill makes others eligible to remain until they turn 21. In view of these apparent contradictions, has there been any liaison between the Department for Education and the Home Office regarding the plight of these doubly unfortunate children?

Finally, I mentioned the excellent report In Care, Out of Trouble, prepared by my noble friend Lord Laming for the Prison Reform Trust, about the prevention of children in care becoming involved with the criminal justice system. He recommends that a Cabinet sub-committee should be formed to provide national leadership in protecting looked-after children from unnecessary criminalisation, by ensuring that there is good joint working and proper regulation and policy development, across UK government departments, acting as an example to local government by:

“Commissioning and disseminating a cross-departmental concordat”,

requiring,

“local authorities, police and other relevant agencies to set and deliver locally agreed outcomes”.

Why not a similar Cabinet sub-committee covering children and social work, which is not to question the calibre or commitment of the admirable Children’s Minister, Edward Timpson MP?

Because, properly amended, this Bill could actually achieve something, I look forward to contributing to its processing, which I hope may begin later rather than sooner, to allow time for detailed preparation. We are bound to have an active Report stage, votes not being allowed in Grand Committee, but, from past experience, I know how fortunate we are that we shall be doing business with such a courteous, conscientious and receptive Minister.