Children and Young Persons Bill [Lords]

Briefly, I join other hon. Members in welcoming the main body and thrust of the Bill, although some opportunities have been missed, which have been highlighted and which were gone through with a fine-tooth comb in Committee by my hon. Friend the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton). I bring two such issues to the attention of the House and urge the Government to continue to look at them closely in the near future: the registration scheme, and the treatment and support of children in custody who have lost their looked-after status having come from voluntary accommodation. That is a serious issue that needs urgent attention, and I put the Government on notice that we want some action on it sooner rather than later. However, the message from the Committee was one of moving forward for the children who are the most vulnerable in our society. There is no doubt that we have managed to achieve steps in the right direction. I am also delighted to hear that the Government acknowledge that these measures are the first step, and that there is still a lot of work to do to try to ensure that we provide the support and the service for the most vulnerable children in our society. On that note, there are two particular aspects of children in care into which the Government need to channel their energies: first, those who are on the cusp of care and are in danger of falling into the care system—we need to try to support them and their families to prevent that from happening, because to this day we still have more than 60,000 children in the care system—and, secondly, children who want to move out of the care system and are on the cusp of a new life. We need to support their long-term future. If we can achieve that, we will have gone a long way to fulfilling our responsibilities—as Members of Parliament, as parents and as responsible members of society. I welcome the Bill and I am glad that it is a step in the right direction. I look forward to the progress being put into action. Question put and agreed to. Bill accordingly read the Third time, and passed, with amendments.