Clause 11 - Functions and procedure of LSCBs
Children Bill [Lords]
3:45 pm
Mr Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight, Conservative)
I support the amendment, and want to do so by referring to the story of a child in my constituency, whom, for obvious reasons, I shall not name. The child is in the care of the local authority, is fostered, and has a family. His uncle and aunt sought to obtain information about the child's schooling. They knew that he was not attending school as he should have been, because he came to see them in school hours. The local authority very slowly began to take an interest in what they were saying, and the child moved foster parents and was sent to another school.
I regret to say that little was done by the first school or by the second school to establish that the child attended school on a regular basis. It was concluded that he was unsuitable for the full national curriculum, so some of his time was put outside mainstream schooling. The uncle and aunt then came to me and said that the process was not working. I have had the devil's own job getting the local authority to take the uncle and aunt seriously as people who may be interested in the child's welfare. It culminated in a letter that arrived only yesterday from the director of children's services, which said that the case was
nothing to do with me because I did not have the authority of the school, the parents, the local education authority or the child to raise the matter with them. I accept that the Minister is hoping to do something about that issue—indeed, I thought that Mr. Speaker had already done something about it, and that regulations had been passed to deal with it. That is why I believe it to be so important to include those words in the Bill.
As we know, families come in all shapes and sizes, but many of them, even at some distance from the natural parents, have a great interest in and great care for the welfare of the children in their family. That should be recognised in the procedures adopted by social services and children's authorities.