My Lords, I largely welcome what the Government are attempting with this Bill. I wish the Minister involved all the luck in the world, because this is a tough nut to crack. I believe he approaches it from the right point of view, with real passion, understanding and a focus on rehabilitation. When I…
My Lords, I will speak in support of Amendments 469 and 470, and I thank my noble friend for making such a strong and clear case for why they are important.
As a former Children’s Commissioner who worked very much within the framework of the UNCRC as the legal person required to promote and support…
My Lords, I will speak to my Amendment 450 on managed moves, as well as Amendment 453, which is in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Storey.
The amendments concern a group of children who are literally moved between schools. At the moment, they are pretty much out of the spotlight and are not in any…
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her response and the emphasis that she has placed throughout on inclusion. The ambition is for all children to be able to benefit from a great education and for them to be able to thrive in school.
The amendment I put forward about managed moves is…
I will make a quick intervention, if I may, just to counter the claim that the troubled families programme achieved nothing. The evidence does not tell us that, so it is important not to allow us to think that.
My noble friend deserves very great credit for the work that she has done in leading the way to the model of Young Futures hubs in the way she described. She is also right, of course, that to bring together the services that need to create and contribute to Young Futures hubs, we need cross-governme…
I feel the need to add some thoughts of my own to this conversation, which I am very pleased that we are having. I declare my interest as the executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives. I thank noble Lords for their kind comments on that.
This is a really crucial area of policy, and I am delight…
My Lords, Amendment 142 is in my name. It sets out to make the case for the inclusion of supported accommodation in the scope of the proposed profit cap. Following clarification from my noble friend the Minister, including in answers to questions in earlier groups in Committee, I am content that tha…
My Lords, my Amendments 108 to 116 focus on the distance from home of placements for children in care, and the impact of the move to regional care co-operatives. I welcome the move to regional care arrangements of this kind, as well as the significant increase in investment in children’s social care…
My Lords, I, too, support the amendment and thank noble Lords for putting it forward. This is not a new debate: I called for this change in law many years ago, including when I was Children’s Commissioner for England. I have not changed my view. As we have heard, Sweden outlawed smacking in 1979, an…
Perhaps I might add a few thoughts from my experience. As Children’s Commissioner for six years, I found that the greatest level of responsibility was around children in care, and I looked in detail at the experience of children in care throughout that time. One of the things that was absolutely cle…
Yes—I apologise for that on many levels. We have to move forward at pace, but also with confidence and determination, while also checking along the way that we are giving support where it is needed.
Finally, we need to ensure that investment is there, but we have to get to the point where we are in…
I support the amendment and will not add more to the case put forward by Action for Children, although I am grateful for its input and for that of my team at Centre for Young Lives. Schools and colleges are the public bodies and the people who often know children and young people best. They can see …
I support the amendments tabled by my noble friend Lady Armstrong. I appreciate having this opportunity to discuss in more detail family group decision-making. I welcome the measures in the Bill that seek to offer families the chance to build solutions together that can secure their children’s welfa…
My Lords, it is with profound humility and sincere gratitude that I rise to make my maiden speech in your Lordships’ House. Never did I imagine, as a child born in Kashmir to parents from a humble farming background, that I would stand here among your Lordships, not as an observer but as an equal, e…