Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

Everyone has made the arguments very forcefully. I have before me the speech made by my noble friend Lady Massey. We know there will be those who will immediately see these amendments as having the potential for abuse and as a risk to public moneys. It will be claimed that arrangements will be made, conveniently, to look after the children of others in order to access public funds. I can well imagine the kinds of headlines we may see in some newspapers about these recommendations. The emphasis should be on the fact that such a financial allowance would be received by a carer only where it was clear that the parents were incapable of raising the child themselves. My noble friend Lady Massey has made the point, but I reinforce it because there is always a great deal of debate around the issue of the abuse of public funds. This has to be seen in the context of the moral obligations of parents to care for and bring up their own children, and to take responsibility for them. We have had the debate often, around absent fathers particularly. But there is also the issue of our moral obligation as a society to keep children within kinship relationships and to provide them with proper care. There is a very real need to make this argument publicly in a way that makes it clear that the first obligation is on parents to bring up their own children and to take financial responsibility for them.