Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

We on the Liberal Democrat Benches welcome new clause 21 and consider it a good response to the debate that we had in Committee. On new clauses 22 to 24, I shall reflect on the significance of our debate today and the Government's announcements tomorrow, given the additional shocking news that was revealed in the past week and the "Panorama" programme last night, which had some serious messages for us all. Child protection is the most important issue that we face, and it should not be used as a political football. I shall comment on each of the Government's proposed new clauses. I have concerns about new clause 22 in particular, and those concerns are deep set, because my reading of Laming's review is not the same as the Secretary of State's. I do not think that new clause 22 addresses what Laming had to say. For example, Laming stated:""The performance indicators currently in use for the safeguarding of children are inadequate for this task. Discussion with local authorities"—" I do not regard that as full consultation, by the way—""suggested that this was because of concerns that current indicators focus on processes and timescales"—" I agree with that, but Laming went on to say that they""are not helpful in creating shared safeguarding priorities amongst statutory partners, are unclear in their impact upon positive outcomes for children and young people, and do not drive improved services."" Laming went on to recommend that the statutory targets""should be reviewed to include safeguarding and child protection targets"," but he said:""These indicators must be specifically agreed by the Department of Health and the Home Office to ensure they are reflected in the performance management frameworks of Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs), Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and Police Authorities."" The new clause does not seem to be directed at the right body. It is directed at the children's services authority, and I do not understand why it is not directed at the children's trust board, which would involve the other agencies. I do not see how the new clause would result in the important partner bodies fully accepting the targets. I make that point in extreme seriousness, because one great concern is that the new clause will not be fit for purpose. My other concern is that we do not know the precise targets that the Secretary of State has in mind, and we all know that targets can have unintended consequences—there have undoubtedly been some in children's legislation. Therefore, we do not feel able to give our unequivocal support to the provisions without knowing a lot more about them. We wish to reserve our position, because we want to ensure that we have the best possible legislation for the protection of children, and we are not convinced about the measure at this stage. Under new clause 23, lay members would be included on the safeguarding children boards, which is perfectly sensible, although I have some concerns about the training that would have to be given to those members, and about their exact role and status. At this stage, we do not know about that. On new clause 24, the Laming review clearly recommends that the safeguarding children boards should produce annual reports, and I cannot see anything whatever to object to in that. However, the process in respect of which Laming recommendations are brought forward for consideration today, what will be in the announcements tomorrow and what might be introduced to the Bill at its next stage seems a little "pick and mix". My hon. Friends and I have tabled an amendment on the independence of the chairman of a safeguarding board. Interestingly, Lord Laming made a recommendation on the chairmanship of the board, when he clearly said that he did not think that the same person should occupy the chairs of the children's trust board and the local safeguarding board. Therefore, it seems relevant to consider our suggestion, which is carefully written, because it would permit a member of another authority to move across and aid the scrutiny role of an authority. That issue needs to be discussed, and I hope that the Secretary of State will give it some serious consideration. I shall take a minute to comment on the Laming review, generally. It was important to have a speedy review, and full congratulations must go to Lord Laming on what he achieved in the time that he had. However, his time was limited and the consultation was limited, so, yet again, I make the point that, notwithstanding Lord Laming's experience and considerable knowledge of the issues, a fresh pair of eyes should look at the system, because they may see things that others have missed. New clause 20 is the slightly amended version of an amendment that we discussed in Committee, and it is right to revisit a subject that was raised at the end of a very long sitting on 26 March. On that occasion, my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) outlined most eloquently why we feel that its provisions are necessary. The new clause would introduce a statutory duty to ensure that the investigating or key worker saw the child separately from his or her parent or carer. My hon. Friend had the advantage of having read the serious case review regarding baby Peter, so he was able to reflect on the issue more deeply than I shall be able to today. However, it is vital that we think about what happened in two, infamous cases. We know that nobody spoke to Victoria Climbié, yet she died in shocking conditions. We know also that baby Peter had his face smeared with chocolate to conceal the bruising and injuries to him. How can we—anybody—suggest that it is not important for a key worker to have time alone with a vulnerable child to talk to them, where appropriate, and to communicate with them in all sorts of ways? It is accepted that the child's views must be presented, but I suggest that we need to go one stage further: will we really be able to hold our heads up if we have yet another case in which a baby or young child is severely abused or even killed and the social worker has not had any meaningful and direct communication with them? Although my hon. Friend put forward an excellent case at the end of that very long sitting in Committee, it was clearly a tiring time for the Under-Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, and I take issue with some of her comments at the time. That is not to attach any blame whatever to her, because it was a very long sitting. Indeed, she did not have all the time that she might have wanted to reflect on the new clause, because, under normal circumstances, we would probably have considered it some days later.