On Monday I was pleased to take to take the opportunity to speak at length on the Children and Social Work Bill, which covers an area and profession dear to me and my family for many years.
The Children and Social Work Bill is a landmark piece of legislation in an area that has long been neglected and under-supported. At its heart, the Bill seeks to speed up adoption procedures vis-à-vis short-term placements, boost support to care leavers by providing personal advisers up to the age of 25, place a duty on councils and schools to promote educational achievement of adopted children, and introduce a new social work regulator for the profession’s training and standards. It was therefore a privilege to be able to speak in the defence of those who work in and benefit from the profession, but I was disappointed not to see the same support shown on the Labour benches where only a single member spoke during its entirety.
My close association with the social work profession allows me the benefit of understanding, and it is with this that I want to ensure this Bill offers young people and their social workers as good a deal as possible. My sister is a senior practicing social worker and, prior to becoming a Member for Parliament, I worked for Supported Fostering Services in a contact supervisor capacity. I am also still connected with that charity as I remain an independent visitor for one of our local looked-after children.
Sadly, there has been an increase in children becoming looked after, so it is right that this Government, and society, are putting the outcomes of our young people at the top of the agenda.
It is a long outdated view that once a young person reaches 18 or even their early 20s, they do not need any help. I welcome the fact that support for these care leavers features heavily in the Bill, through the local offer and the extension of personal advisers, which represents a major step forward in supporting this vulnerable group of young people.
It is also high time that our social workers finally be respected in the way we adhere to our police and fire services and NHS staff. Instead of being criticised and used as a target of blame, our social workers should be held in the highest esteem as professionals who make decisions, intervene to protect children and families from harm, work with families to help them stay together and have an impact on outcomes – day in, day out. This is too often forgotten or ignored.
I welcome the initial measures in this Bill, but it is still important that we know the specifics of how this will work in practice, what safeguards will be in place, and what support local authorities will receive to ensure young people and social workers alike are provided with high quality offers. These are questions I believe we need strong responses and I will be doing all I can to help push for better outcomes for vulnerable looked-after children.