Lords debates number of children in care

Debate

Lord Laming (Crossbench), former director of social services at Hertfordshire County Council, put forward the debate.

This was a general debate. During debates, members put their experience to good use to discuss current issues and draw the government's attention to concerns.      

Members speaking

Contributing members included:

• Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat), vice president of Bernardos
• Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice (Crossbench), former trustee of the Foundation Years Trust
• Lord Lexden (Conservative), president of the Council for Independent Education
• Baroness Twycross (Labour), shadow spokesperson for education.

Opening the debate, Lord Laming said:

'The increase in the number of children being admitted into the care of local authorities must be a matter of great concern to us all.

More than eight in 10 local authorities are expecting financial hardship to increase locally in the next 12 months. That is why in many local authorities the non-statutory services that are essential in the support of families and young people have been dramatically reduced.'

Baroness Barran (Conservative), Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education, responded on behalf of the government:

'I hope very much that our work through the Children’s Social Care: Stable Homes, Built on Love strategy shows our commitment to laying the foundations to address those very human issues as well as all the structural change that needs to happen to make that a reality.'

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Explore background information  

• Find out more about the issues the debate covers in the House of Lords Library briefing. 
• Learn more about how the House of Lords checks and challenges government.

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