Debate on the Address

My Lords, the proposals in the most gracious Speech sadly lacked any real substance in trying to answer the question that the Government are intent on leading with in newspaper headlines on the respect and responsibility agenda. At a time when the adult population in Great Britain is in over£1 trillion in personal debt, personal bankruptcies are on the increase, and a fear culture is developing around the presence of our young people, it is deeply depressing to know that while publicity-grabbing headlines make good reading, they fall incredibly short of actual solutions. I recently met a group of student teachers who were training to teach citizenship classes. They all commented on the greyness of the range that they were expected to teach. While, ideally, it would be useful for children to learn respect and responsibility from home, it is difficult to imagine—given the circumstances surrounding many of our families today with low skills both educationally and vocationally, and given the increasing problems around drug and alcohol abuse—how this agenda, so trumpeted by the Government, will be delivered. Most young people want structured and consistent lives. Short-term fixes and persistent attacks on parenting are not the solution. The group of student teachers whom I spoke to said that part of their role should be about real life skills development, such as managing debt, organising budgets and knowing how to buy a first car or how to pay an electricity bill—just practical knowledge. While the parent at home can be sent to prison for having a child who persistently truants, the absent parent—in many cases, the father—seems to be absolved from responsibility. The Government have failed to reconcile the causes behind the behaviour that leads to truancy. The numbers of children truanting are seriously high. Deliberate absenteeism from school needs to be addressed. The fabric and future of our nation depend on what we do for our young people. I have the good fortune to regularly meet excellent, foresighted young people who, like us, all have aspirations to be positive contributors to society. Not all are academic; some have great artistic talents, while others are hugely skilled in practical activity. All are a credit to our country, and it would bode well if we were able to celebrate equally their contributions as much as we highlight the difficulties that we have with some others of our young people. Consistently not seeing and addressing diversity at the head and heart of organisations results in a continued failure to provide role models for children from communities that do not see role models. That leads to alienation, absenteeism and a lack of full engagement in community and society. Another area that distresses me greatly is the treatment of our most vulnerable, especially the elderly, when they are admitted to hospital. I declare an interest as a provider of care, predominantly to the elderly and disabled in our communities. I will highlight the poor nutrition faced by many in our hospitals. A recent case that was highlighted to me showed only too well how poorly nutrition is provided. An elderly gentleman who was admitted to hospital with a chest infection was left with food that he was unable to eat himself, and it fell to his elderly wife to make the trip twice a day to feed him. Untouched food trays are removed without any effort to assist people to eat. This elderly gentleman remained in bed all day long, and no attempt was made to move him to prevent sores. I could go on and on. Sadly, he passed away. That is not a rare occurrence. We see many headlines about nutritional choice, but it is no choice if food lies by your bedside and you are unable to eat it. It is a poor choice if you go into hospital and leave either worse-off or with a new problem, such as bed sores or hospital-acquired infections. Many of our hospitals still fall short of the standards and levels of cleanliness that we all expect. We know that hospital staff do not always have the time to spend with patients to ensure that they have eaten. It is easy to talk up headlines. The reality is that too many people are unable to raise their voices and are too often being missed or, worse still, completely ignored.