Arthur Labinjo-Hughes

Debate between Lucy Allan and Nadhim Zahawi

Monday 6th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi]

The hon. Member is absolutely right that we need to ensure that we continue to retain the more experienced social worker leadership, and I hope that the MacAlister review will make some operational recommendations on that. Of course, we had two successful schemes with Frontline and Step Up to Social Work, which resulted in thousands of people coming into the social care profession and the number of social workers going up by 10% since 2017. She is right that if we look at the system overall, we have far too many agency workers, which I think is her point. We want that experience and leadership to be working full time in a local authority system rather than on an agency basis.

[Lucy Allan (Telford) (Con)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and his tone throughout. I know that he was passionate about child safeguarding as Children’s Minister and that children are in safe hands with him at the helm, so I am grateful for that.

This horrific case shows that fundamental reform of children’s social care is long overdue. Lessons learned and case reviews are not enough. Does the Secretary of State agree that the problems with children’s social care are systemic and that the challenges faced are not just about funding? Does he agree that scapegoating individuals, particularly inexperienced social workers, will not improve the care of the most vulnerable children?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that we must ensure that we deliver better outcomes. We recognise that, which is why we made a manifesto pledge to have the MacAlister review. I am confident that the review will deliver recommendations that I hope we can be ambitious about and deliver rapidly.

My hon. Friend is also right that we cannot continue to have review after review. We have to learn from them and operationally implement the recommendations. I am passionate that, in complex systems, we must have thorough investigations, because that is how they are improved and made failsafe for those they protect.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lucy Allan and Nadhim Zahawi

Monday 10th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Allan (Telford) (Con)]

Following his meeting last week with the Family Rights Group to discuss the care crisis review, will the Children’s Minister now consider developing a long-term strategy for reducing the number of children being taken into care?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

My hon. Friend had a debate on the care crisis review last week. We recognise that the number of care order applications and the number of children in care have risen, meaning more work for local authorities. That is why we are working across Government, as I articulated in that debate in Westminster Hall last week, to ensure that local authorities and the courts have the resources that they need.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lucy Allan and Nadhim Zahawi

Monday 25th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Allan (Telford) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree with the basic premise of the care crisis review that, if more money were spent on early intervention and family support, fewer children would go into care, and does he agree that that would be a good thing?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I thank my hon. Friend, who has been a great advocate of early intervention. She is absolutely right. On top of the £1.4 billion programme for troubled families, the Government are looking at reducing parental conflict. We know that many children in need have suffered from domestic abuse. The landmark Bill that we are bringing forward bears witness to our hard work across government to deliver this. However, she is absolutely right to say that early intervention is important and the Government take that very seriously.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lucy Allan and Nadhim Zahawi

Monday 14th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Allan (Telford) (Con)]

T4. The Minister will have read the Education Committee’s report on the Government’s Green Paper on children’s mental health. Does the Minister agree with the Committee that there needs to be specific, distinct proposals to enable looked-after children to access mental health services?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Nadhim Zahawi)]

That is a really important question. We are piloting new approaches to mental health assessment for children in care. The pilots seek to address concerns about the current mental health assessment for children and young people entering care, and to build on the recommendations of the expert working group on mental health.