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Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, for bringing up this very important point. I am not sure but I believe that the future of the panel has been uncertain for some time. I think that there was a threat of the money being withdrawn, and now some money is being given for next year so that some of its work can continue. However, I was comforted by the Minister’s response at Second Reading, when he recognised the importance of people working on the front line and having front-line experience. We talked about the morale of the case managers. I also spoke to Jeremy Oppenheim about the changes that he has been bringing about. He has introduced the case management system so that individual case managers can follow a case from the beginning to the end and build a relationship with the asylum applicant. However we legislate, if we do not have people on the ground with experience and expertise to inform us of what is being done, we will not get what we ultimately need. During the passage of the Children Act 2004, the noble Lord, Lord Laming, said again and again that the Children Act 1989 was very good but that unfortunately it was being poorly implemented. We can legislate all through the night but if we do not have people on the ground with experience and expertise, we will not get the outcomes for children that we want. I have used the children’s panel in the past to take advice or to sound it out about Yarl’s Wood, and found it very helpful. These experts with long experience are just what we need if we are to protect children. It is a matter of concern and I hope that the Minister can reassure us. I also want to ask about the production of the guidance for Clause 51. May I have an assurance that there will be a close partnership with the Department for Children, Schools and Families and what it has done with Section 11? The new children’s champion who has taken on the mantle of Jeremy Oppenheim is Christian Armstrong, so I should be interested to hear what meetings with the DCSF there may be for him in the future and to be kept abreast of the programme of meetings that they may have.