My Lords, I rise to support my noble friend’s Amendment 230D and to speak to my Amendments 234B, 234M, 234N and 235A in this group. I strongly support my noble friend in what he asks. I am well aware that local authorities too often do not give timely advice and support regarding making applications for leave to remain for young people in their care. I have frequently heard that this is the case. What my noble friend asks for is very helpful and I hope that the Minister will give a sympathetic response. Indeed, I am grateful that the Minister has pre-empted this grouping by saying that we will meet to discuss these very important and sensitive issues. I am grateful to him for that.
I will endeavour to be as brief as possible. My amendments would undo those elements of Schedule 9 that would mean that children in the immigration system would be treated differently from other children in the care system. These children would not get the support in leaving care that children outside of the immigration system receive. It would also mean that the Government would fund the care-leaving support for young people in the immigration system.
The key message I make to your Lordships is that these are vulnerable 18 year-olds. We need to treat these young people with humanity. They are somebody’s child, somebody’s grandchild. They are not so different from your Lordships’ grandchildren. They are recognised to be extremely vulnerable because of their histories. Care leavers get support from the state. The care leaving Act allows young people to have a personal adviser to the age of 21 or to the age of 25 if they are in education or training. The personal adviser can help them with things such as securing housing, and advise them on getting into education and training. These are important measures that support these vulnerable young people.
Recently, the Government introduced the staying put arrangements for young people leaving care. This has been most welcome and very popular. Half of
children or young people leaving care take up this offer. It allows them to remain with their foster carers to the age of 21, where they and their foster carers agree. It gives these young people the continuity of care that they so much need. It was accepted in the context of the fact that most young people nowadays leave home on average at the age of 24. These vulnerable young people need that support at least until the age of 21.
Why should we be giving all these young people this kind of support? The risk is that they may enter criminality if they are not properly supported. Their mental health may seriously deteriorate. They may be exploited, perhaps sexually. For the young people we are talking about, I think for instance of a Kosovan Albanian young man, the son of a teacher, whom I worked with many years ago when there were real issues of concern in the Balkans. He was a charming young man, well dressed and courteous to the young women he shared his hostel with. He had every good potential in the world, but I could also see him getting hooked up with some Albanian mafia group and dropping off into that environment if he was not given that proper support when he turned 18.
7.15 pm
I think also of an Afghan young woman who I saw on many occasions. She spoke a very select dialect of Pashto; the translator was at the other end of London. It was so hard for her to communicate. She was fostered for a time in a family with boys. There were very strict rules in her culture about not being brought up with boys, apart from her brothers. It was very difficult for her. I remember arriving one day and seeing her in tears because her family town was being shelled and she had no way of communicating with her family. Vulnerable young people such as these have gone through a lot of trauma and are in a very difficult situation. They do not have family in this country to support them. They really need our help as they turn 18.
Many of these young people will not return at the age of 18. Research by the Children’s Commissioner into young people leaving care with this sort of status in a local authority found that for 56% of them there was no prospect of the Home Office returning them to their home countries soon. They are stuck here and they need help because of that.
As I said, the key message that I try to communicate to your Lordships is that these are vulnerable young people. They have been through trauma of various kinds. They need the same support as other young people in this country who have experienced familial abuse. I have a couple of questions for the Minister. How do the Government’s new proposals limiting support to care leavers align with their stated commitment to care leavers in recognition of their additional vulnerability when transitioning into adulthood? Secondly, will the Minister outline what would happen if a care leaver who had exhausted their appeal rights needed additional support, for example to remain in a foster placement because of concerns that they may self-harm? Would the local authority have the power to support this vulnerable young person in those circumstances? I look forward to the Minister’s response.