Children and Adoption Bill [HL]

My Lords, I do not know whether the noble Lord, Lord Adonis, is aware of this but I believe that he is the third Minister who has been at the crease since the noble Earl, Lord Howe, and I raised this subject. The noble Earl and I take it in turn to go into battle on this issue, and today he has been the equivalent of Freddie Flintoff and I shall be the spinner. Has the Minister had an opportunity to read the recent report on the work done by BAAF, in consultation with the Voice newspaper? That paper for the first time did a large survey among its readership about private fostering—and a very revealing document it is too. It has long been known, since the publication of the report People Like Us, that there are different communities within this country in which private fostering is more prevalent and more the usual custom, partly because of the traditions in the parents’ country of origin. They are very honourable traditions in which extended families, friends and relatives look after children. On the last occasion that we discussed this subject, the noble Baroness, Lady Ashton, was keen to impress on us that some local authorities had pilot schemes in which the local authority had employed officers to work with particular communities and potential private fosterers. Could the noble Lord, Lord Adonis, tell the House what has happened in those pilot areas and what the results of those schemes have been? That was at that point the Government’s principal reason for resisting the reasonable and persuasive case set out by the noble Earl, Lord Howe, to move towards a more rigorous system of registration. Finally, we are talking not only about the case of Victoria Climbié—there are many other cases of children in such situations, such as Toni-Ann Byfield and other—when the understanding of parents who live abroad of the systems of childcare at work in this country has been perhaps in part a contributory factor in those children being put into situations of great danger—situations which we would not allow to happen if they were any other child. On these Benches, it is our contention that until such time as private fostering is registered, we run the risk of leaving these extremely vulnerable children—perhaps some of the most vulnerable—in danger. So I am very pleased to support the noble Earl, Lord Howe, again on this matter.