Member News
By Edward Timpson MP - 10th February 2011
Ahead of his adjournment debate, Edward Timpson MP outlines the need for cross-party commitment to improve outcomes for children in care.
The facts are well known: In the UK, care-leavers are far more likely to end up long-term unemployed, with poorer mental and physical health, on drugs, on the streets, in jail, or as teenage parents than their peers.
A child in care will, on average, achieve a lower level of academic achievement than a child with Special Educational Needs.
Half of all prisoners under the age of 25 were in care, and half of all prostitutes have been in care.
The cost to the state of these scandalous statistics is estimated to be five times more than if a young person had left care with good mental health, stable and strong attachments, and qualifications. The cost to society is in many ways incalculable.
Having spent the last 30 years living with and working in the care system I know that, despite the best efforts of many care professionals and foster carers, it is far from perfect. That is why, as Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Looked After Children and Care Leavers, I am determined to help make it work better.
Six areas to concentrate on should be:
• Putting children first. Strengthen the accountability structures through clearer and more transparent lines of responsibility and a greater voice for the child so that decision makers know they will have to justify all their decisions against what is best for each child in their care.
• Getting in early. Graham Allen MP and the Rt Hon Frank Field MP have made compelling cases for intervening before problems become entrenched. I agree with them but it will need a radical cultural shift in local government at a time where pressure to make savings now could out way the rewards for being bold upfront;
• Getting smarter at sharing best practice. In reality we don’t have a single care system but a fragmented number of care systems spread across local authorities. Innovative practices that have strong evidence of improving outcomes, such as the Hackney Social Work Unit model, should be rolled out across the country;
• Putting education (from 0 – 25) at the heart. Stability in education for children in care and leaving care is almost as important as their stability in placement, as well as significantly improving their prospects of getting a job and moving into independent living;
• Improving the quality of social workers. Build on the Step Up To Social Work scheme by using the Teach First model to help raise the quality, retention and status of the profession. This will only have benefits if professionals are then freed up to go out and work with families rather than filling in forms;
• Widening the range and choice of care for children. A national review of residential care strategy is long overdue.
As recent research from DEMOS and the Centre for Social Justice demonstrates, there is no quick fix.
It will need a cross-party commitment to giving real priority to children in care over a generation.
It should be viewed as a benchmark of wider societal success.
Anything less will mean this scandal continues.
Edward Timpson was elected as Conservative MP for Crewe and Nantwich in 2008. He held the altered seat in 2010 and was appointed as parliamentary private secretary to home secretary Theresa May.
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