Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the (a) voices and (b) experiences of birth parents who have experienced the removal of children from their care are included in (i) policymaking and (ii) service provision in the children's social care system.

The department is committed to engaging widely with those with lived experience of children’s social care, as well as all interested stakeholders, to help us drive the right change and scale up good practice in children’s social care across the country.

Hearing the views of those with lived experience of children’s social care and responding to their recommendations is an important part of national and local children’s social care policy development and delivery. At a national level, the department has parents, including birth parents, and carers who sit on strategic advisory boards and policy reference groups covering different aspects of children’s social care reform policy. We have also engaged parents and families on consultations on children’s social care reform. The Supporting Families programme and the Families First for Children Pathfinder also ensure children and families’ voices inform service design and delivery.

The department recognises there is more to do, and we continue to explore ways to grow and develop our ongoing engagement with those with lived experience of children’s social care, including parents and families.