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Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank noble Lords for those helpful and important contributions. As someone who has joined the proceedings on the Bill at the very last stage, I have been made aware of the incredibly rich, important and significant debates that have taken place. I should like to offer a little more reassurance on the questions that noble Lords have raised. First, the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, highlighted the question of momentum. The Bill has certainly generated momentum and we will be moving quickly onto the next Bill. But I am happy to reassure him and other noble Lords that we will continue the momentum that this Bill has generated. I can also reassure noble Lords about the code of practice. I know that some noble Lords have been concerned that there will be a considerable gap in time before the new duty in the Immigration and Citizenship Bill can take effect. I am therefore pleased that the arrangements provided for in the UK Borders Act 2007 requiring the Border and Immigration Agency, as it was then known, to have regard to a code of practice for keeping children safe from harm will remain in place. It will have been reinforced by the clear new direction of travel. The code of practice has been consulted on widely and a response to that consultation, together with a revised code, is expected to be published in early December, when the original duty in the UK Borders Act 2007 will be commenced. In time, the planned provisions in the Immigration and Citizenship Bill will replace those in the UK Borders Act 2007, so we can expect a phased introduction of these new measures designed to safeguard children and promote their welfare: first, from this autumn, a duty on UKBA to have regard to a code of practice for keeping children safe from harm; and then, subject to the passage of the Immigration and Citizenship Bill, a stronger duty to discharge functions having regard to the need to safeguard children and, picking up on the concern of the noble Baroness, Lady Morris, to promote their welfare, and to have regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State. The noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, referred to training. All border and immigration staff have received training on child awareness issues to keep children safe from harm, with two further levels of training aimed at those staff members whose work directly affects children. The UKBA’s culture is changing and, given what I have said today, there should be no question of our commitment to ensuring that culture change continues. The noble Earl, Lord Listowel, asked whether I would be happy to meet Jeremy Oppenheim, the children’s champion for the UKBA. I have had a note from my officials to say that I shall be happy to do so. I thank them for that kind gesture, but I could have thought that out for myself. I shall be delighted to meet Jeremy Oppenheim and shall treat that as an urgent matter. Like all noble Lords who have taken part in this short debate, I wish to put on record my thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Morris of Bolton. She and I are members of the class of 2004. She has made a tremendous contribution to this House. I am disappointed that I will not be able to work with her more often as we take forward the huge amount of legislation that will be introduced in the next Session. I hope that noble Lords will accept my commitment from the Dispatch Box to maintain the momentum that we need to ensure that we keep the interests of all children within the UK borders at the centre of our approach. On Question, Motion agreed to. 2: Page 8, line 34, at end insert— "““( )""Until the coming into force of subsection (1), Schedule 2 to the 1989 Act has effect with the modifications specified in Schedule (Transitory modifications of Schedule 2 to the 1989 Act).””""3: Page 12, line 8, leave out ““this section”” and insert ““section 12 or 13””"