Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

I put my name to this amendment because we are dealing with children whose lives are by definition acutely disrupted. The last thing that they need is further disruption in their lives. With the best will in the world and whatever the intention, if a whole string of social workers deals with them, the process can be very disruptive. There are too many powerful stories of young people who make it explicitly clear that the one thing that they yearn for is somebody who can be their confidant, to whom they relate and who is central to the working out of their lives. Continuity is tremendously important. Of course, any reasonable person understands the incredible demands that we put on social services and the difficulties in meeting the ideal, but the amendment spells out a real issue that needs to be addressed. I hope that my noble friend will find ways in which to work with the sponsors of the amendment to meet the observation. I am sure that I am not alone, but I am deeply upset that, even with positive commitment in legislation, because of the way in which the legislation is tackled the whole purpose can in effect be negated. That is a disaster. We need to ensure that the issue is given priority.