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Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

I enthusiastically support the amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher. I have said before—and I do not want to become repetitive—that I always find the clarity and experience with which she argues her amendments commendable. What she has said stands in its own right. The reasons I have leant my name to this amendment can be summed up under a couple of headings. The first is to remember that, in everything we are doing, we are trying to compensate for the absence of family. The noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, referred in a cheerful aside to her own family experience and to her children being nearly 40. I am sure that that is not a unique experience. In saying that, we must try and translate ourselves into the young person’s position. Continuity is terribly important. It does not help to have theoretical arrangements in place which do not amount to a row of beans. The two amendments taken together are indispensable. As I was arguing a moment ago on the previous amendment, we always have to face the social consequences, the cost, of not having done the right thing in time. All of us with experience of our own families know that people in that age group are at a terribly important stage in life. It is a tremendously important stage when people are getting launched into the real world. The amendments are important, and I look forward to what my noble friend has to say.