Education and Inspections Bill

I strongly support what the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathly, just said with all her experience in this area. Two of the amendments emphasise schools’ responsibilities in this area and draw on the consultation with young carers that I attended. It was organised by Dr Roger Morgan, the Children's Rights Director at the Commission for Social Care Inspection. It is his duty to ensure that the voices of children affected by public services are heard clearly. I have three points. On social services, which the noble Baroness Lady Massey, mentioned, children commented that, "““social services come in and out of our lives but never stay long enough to help””." Young carers, "““did not get much support for themselves from organisations like social services””," and stressed the need for, "““having the same social worker for a continuous time””." We know that, because of the shortage of social workers in many areas, we have a long way to go in securing that steady support. It makes it all the more important that schools can supply that support where it is lacking elsewhere. On schools, young people said that, "““it feels like I've got to explain myself so many times””." The consultation concluded that, "““if you have been doing caring tasks for someone at home, sometimes during the night, you are simply tired and can't concentrate at school””." Young carers need one, "““person on the staff they could talk to at any time about their caring pressures””," so the role of designated teacher is very important indeed. As the noble Baroness, Lady Buscombe, and children said, "““there is a fine line between helping and intruding””." That sensitivity is all-important and again schools need to be equipped to deliver it. What struck me most in the meeting was what young people said about their friends. They said: "““Staff also need to know how being a young carer can make a difference to how you get on with other children or young people. It can make it difficult to make friends, and you can come across as having emotional problems yourself. Friends you do make sometimes don’t stick around when things get tough. Practical things like going out with friends and going on sleepovers can be very difficult for a young carer to do, and this does make a difference to how you get on with other people your own age””." The charity YoungMinds has often expressed the concern that mental health services, when they are dealing with parents, do not identify the children and the need for those children to get support. I welcome the strengthened duty on schools to identify these children and ensure that they get the support and services that they need. I look forward to the Minister’s response.