Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

My name is attached to the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham. I gladly support it and him and the noble Lord, Lord Judd, who is my noble friend. I have been a social worker, a children’s panel member and a magistrate. I have seen this from both sides. Since then I have had quite a lot to do with the theory of it. The realities are a million miles from what they should be. As the noble Lord, Lord Judd, said, the transition from prison to the outside world is when all people, but particularly young people, are at their most vulnerable. He will know, as I do, that it is not at all unusual for people to come out with nowhere to go. It makes one’s heart bleed to think of what that can mean for people. This amendment deals with so-called looked-after children, whose total life experience and life chances are, at a stroke, diminished by being in the care of the state. That says a lot for the care of the state, does it not? Our amendment requires local authority representatives to visit a looked-after child, who is in care, who is then taken into custody. There was a Green Paper which vaguely said that local authorities should carry out an assessment of need of such a child, "““with an expectation that they will continue to be supported as a child in care””." Not surprisingly, those expectations have not been realised. A vast proportion of children in custody have been in care—up to 49 per cent—with all that that means. At the same time, we all know just how stretched our social services departments are. So the temptation for social workers, who may be miles from where a child has ended up in custody, to park their responsibilities for such a child until such time as he or she is realised is irresistible. That may be the reason—indeed justification—but it does not mean that it is right. Quite the reverse is the case. For many children, going into custody is like falling into a black hole. Indeed, one of the three STCs that I have visited, some more than once, dissuaded families from visiting, and did not even invite them to come to see a production of a play that had been a great source of excitement and pride to the participants. Distance and cost were the explanations for the lack of any invitation. Distance and cost are also the explanation for lack of social workers, plus, quite rightly, pressure of work and the temptation perhaps to take comfort from the fact that for a while someone else has the responsibility for the child. Clearly, continuity of care by those whose role it is to support vulnerable children in the community who are in theory being looked after by them is essential as well as desirable. There should indeed be, as the amendment proposes, a statutory duty to maintain contact, make an assessment of need and report annually. I have also heard from staff in STCs about the difficulty they have in making or keeping contact with their co-professionals outside, including at the point of release, which is deeply shocking. These are children who need more, not less, continuity of care, and it is incumbent on all of us to see that that happens. Once again resources of time, money and manpower are at issue. But if the welfare of the child is indeed paramount and not just another form of words, action must be taken. These children should be at the top of the list, not the bottom where they so shockingly and so often are. We have a pressing duty to see that that is put right.