Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

I thank the Minister for his reply and all noble Lords who have taken part in the debate. Perhaps I may pick up on the story told by the noble Lord, Lord Judd. Some time ago, I spoke to a young man who had been in care before he was adopted. The adoption had broken down and he had been taken back into care. He became a friend of our family and said that one of the things that troubled him most was that he knew what a difficult time he was having and worried greatly about what was happening to his younger brothers and sisters. The fact that he did not have the contact that he needed was, he thought, one of the reasons why he found his placements so difficult. He thought that, if only he could have been reassured that his brothers and sisters were fine, he would have found life much easier. A lawyer who was meeting the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, said to me earlier today that if the Children Act 1989 were properly applied, much of what we are discussing today would be unnecessary, as the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, said. This probing amendment was proposed to stimulate debate and represents yet another attempt to find those drivers, because, although the requirement has been on the statute book since 1989, it is still not being implemented in the way in which many children and young people in care would like to see. The Minister said that practice falls short of the legal requirement, although he went on to explain at length what was happening. I like the idea that it will be a requirement to record contact arrangements. I am most grateful to everybody for their participation in this short debate and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendment No. 18 not moved.]