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Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

I support Amendment No. 94 on the registration of foster carers with the General Social Care Council. It is overdue and is good for prestige and professional reasons, and we should give a good deal of attention to it. It would be to the medium-term advantage, and we should do it. I shall also speak briefly to Amendment No. 96 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Morris. It is important for good financial practice as well as for allegations that we should distinguish clearly between payments to meet the full cost of caring for a child and the fee. The financial officer of any public company would not like to make a single payment for two totally different purposes without making it clear what they were and how they were differentiated. I therefore support the amendment. If that is not done, there is a temptation to defer adjusting the payment for the full cost of caring for a child by saying that the total amount of money is reasonably right for the time being. That is what happens in this world. It is most important to differentiate between those two items. The full cost of caring for the child should be specified and can therefore be adjusted when it should be adjusted.