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Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

My Lords, I feel honoured to have been able to listen to the debate. There has been an inspiring unanimity of mind and spirit. It is even more of a pleasure to take part. My name was not on the original speakers list. That was not due to any fault of my own, I assure noble Lords. I telephoned the Whips Office last Monday and was told that my name would be so included, but today found to my surprise and chagrin that it was not, but that it was included in the list for another debate. I do not know whether electronic gremlinry or my Welsh accent was responsible for that, but I am happy to take part in this debate, although I must say that nearly everything that I would have stressed has already been said well and genuinely by many other people. The 13 speakers who preceded me have, in each case, made valuable points and I find myself almost totally in agreement with, particularly my immediate predecessor, the noble Earl, Lord Listowel. However, I will raise a Cassandra voice, not in any attempt to embarrass the Government, because I believe that they have toiled valiantly in relation to this problem, particularly the Minister, for whom I have immense regard and respect. But there is one reason why this Bill is before the House and that can be summed up in one word: failure. It is the failure of society to be able to narrow the gap between the fortunes of looked-after children and other normal, average children. The Secretary of State used the words ““shameful”” and ““inexcusable”” in his foreword to the Green Paper published in October last year. That speaks a great deal of his candour and integrity. Of course, when one thinks of the background from which these damaged children come—nearly two-thirds of them the victims of abuse or gross neglect—one appreciates that one cannot wave any magic wand to convert their fortunes overnight. Things like that do not happen. On the other hand, we should remind ourselves that there has been a long statutory campaign to try to improve their lot. As a Minister in the Home Office in 1969, I had the privilege of taking the Children and Young Persons Bill through the other place. That dedication was greatly underscored by the Children Act 1989 and it continues. I pay high tribute to the Government for their efforts. However, bearing in mind the changes brought about by the Children Act, has any real narrowing of that gap taken place? I doubt it. It may even be that the gap is now wider. In those circumstances, we need to ask ourselves whether, even with the many progressive and forward-looking ideas in the Bill, the financial commitments, the systems for better training and better organisation, they will come anywhere near to achieving the narrowing of that dreadful gap. To put it another way, will they enable us to drag out of that valley of despair thousands of children who now have their lives distinguished by being under represented in achievement and over represented in failure at almost every level? We must use not only human and financial resources on a lavish and generous level; we must apply a great deal of imagination. The noble Earl, Lord Listowel, referred to the boarding school point. Many noble Lords will have read as I did the report in the Times today of the Royal Wanstead Children's Foundation experiment. A study that took many years found evidence of quite spectacular success in relation to mixing fostering with the boarding children at school. If this success is anything other than chimerical—and it appears to be solid and substantial—the advantages are enormous. It means that some 2,000 placements in boarding schools are available and that many fosterers who would not otherwise be able to foster the year through will be able to foster through the holidays. It also means that, very often, a great deal of money can be saved—apparently something like half the cost of a placement in a residential children's home. But far and above that, it shows that over a period of three years, children in that group—95 altogether; a sufficiently wide sample to give significant results—showed themselves not only to be able to equal the educational performance of other children but in many cases to improve it. If that is the direction, I am sure that I do not need to urge the Minister to give it every possible consideration. May I mention one or two matters that are absent from the Bill which might have been considered? One is what I call the green-baize-door problem. That was the term used by judges—I was a family judge for many years—to describe the frustration that the court feels when making a care order and knowing that there is practically nothing that the court can do to supervise what happens to the child from that point on. The child goes beyond the green baize door into the care of the local authority. Of course, there is a geometric logicality about all that. Once you have a system that Parliament has endorsed giving authority to certain bodies and you entrust those bodies with carrying out that statutory authority, there is a strong case for saying that you should not be allowed to interfere. That is exactly what this House said some five years ago in a case called Re: S, where there was an attempt, as many Members will remember, to bring in a system of starred milestones whereby the court would be able to check now and then to see exactly what was happening. However, the House reached the only decision available in the circumstances and came to the inevitable conclusion that it could not allow it. The powers of the independent reviewing officer, who is not all that independent if he comes from the local authority, has been strengthened and given duties in this Bill in addition to those in the 2002 Act. Although that is a valuable function, it does not come anywhere near a court having authority over that child in certain circumstances. It is not a case of not trusting the local authority, but it might be impossible to foresee exactly how sensitively the local authority would be able to act from time to time in relation to that particular child. I would also have liked to see short-term care orders considered. Under Section 91 of the Children Act 1989, a care order lasts until 18. In many cases, of course, care orders are operated for a period of only six to eight months. There is a case for the majority of orders to operate until 18. Indeed, there may be a case for them to go beyond that. Be that as it may, there will be many cases where a court is of the view that there are issues that may take a year, two years, perhaps three years at the very most, to resolve. It will say, ““We are not going to make interim orders; that would be entirely wrong. That would be delay for delay’s sake, but it would be proper to experiment with a short-term order. That can always be repealed if wrong””. Lastly, I mention a matter that does not concern care at all, but I suspect that we shall not be reviewing the Children Act 1989 for a very long time and I take this opportunity to mention it. Section 8 of the Act deals with many matters, including contact. We hear so much of contact being denied to parents and very vociferous campaigns in respect of fathers in many cases but we are not told about the hundreds of thousands of parents who have no desire to have contact with their children. I am not sure what exactly can be done, but I would like to see a very great deal of thought given to this matter bearing in mind that contact—as the Convention on the Rights of the Child says—is the human right of the child. I appreciate that whatever we do in this Bill much more money may be needed. I believe that £300 million is earmarked over four years, whereas in 2005-06, the expenditure on children in care was £2.1 billion altogether, so percentage wise we are not talking of a vast investment. But whatever we do with our very best efforts I have no doubt that there will still be that huge and, indeed, shameful gap between children in care and children who are not in care. It is up to us to use all our ingenuity and commitment in trying to bring about a more equitable situation for the children who are the subject of this legislation.