Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I will briefly add one comment on the numbers of young women who become pregnant as teenagers, and who are particularly likely to be within that group. The noble Lord, Lord Mitchell, has drawn attention to the dangers of women drinking in the early stages of their pregnancy. Having an alcoholic as a parent, or two alcoholics as parents, raises child protection concerns and often when the NSPCC looks into child abuse or maltreatment issues there are one or two alcoholic parents involved. If we can get in effectively early on, it would make so much difference to the lives of some of our most vulnerable children. Therefore, I welcome what is behind the amendment and look forward to the Minister’s response.