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Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

My Lords, I shall just say a few words about Commons Amendment No. 7, which I particularly welcome, as I welcome any means of ensuring that we gain the widest possible dissemination of information about child deaths and therefore have every possible opportunity to learn lessons from every child death. It is unfortunate that, despite everything that the Government have done, we are still having too many violent deaths of children; even one is too many. It is very important that we should have every possible opportunity to learn lessons from the deaths of children. I refer not just to the terrible recent case in Haringey, but to the two more child deaths in Manchester, of which I heard only this morning. I have no doubt that lessons will emerge from that case too. It is important that professionals everywhere have every single opportunity to learn all the lessons that they can from all those unfortunate occurrences. On Question, Motion agreed to. 4: Page 14, line 25, leave out ““(4)”” and insert ““(4A)”” "5: Page 14, line 38, at end insert—""““(4A)""After that subsection add—""““(5) For the purposes of subsection (4)(b), if the child is not in the area of the local authority, they must treat him as if he were in that area.””””""6: Insert the following new Clause—" After paragraph 8 of Schedule 2 to the 1989 Act insert— "( 2 )" 8A (1) Every local authority shall make provision for such services as they consider appropriate to be available with respect to accommodated children. "(2) ““Accommodated children”” are those children in respect of whose accommodation the local authority have been notified under section 85 or 86.""(3) The services shall be provided with a view to promoting contact between each accommodated child and that child’s family.""(4) The services may, in particular, include—" (a) advice, guidance and counselling; (b) services necessary to enable the child to visit, or to be visited by, members of the family; (c) assistance to enable the child and members of the family to have a holiday together. "(5) Nothing in this paragraph affects the duty imposed by paragraph 10.””””"