Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

My Lords, from these Benches we add our support for all these amendments. We very much welcome the spirit of Clause 14. In Grand Committee, there was lengthy discussion about the value of visitors to looked-after children, and these amendments would ensure that the person responsible for visiting the child would be known to the child. Nothing is worse for a child who, as we have all been saying, often will have come from a very troubled and difficult background than being visited time after time by different people whom he does not know at all. This happens frequently. If the child is to build a relationship of trust with that person it has to be someone whom the child knows and therefore trusts. For those in custody, it is even more important for there to be trust and that the person understands their background and knows what they have gone through. No one could be but moved by the words of the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham. Sadly, our discussion on this issue was curtailed in Grand Committee and we did not have a chance to talk about it as much as we might have done. It is obvious that society has frequently neglected its responsibilities to looked-after children—an unfortunate euphemism because very often they have not been looked after. Above all, when in custody they need to be looked-after. We on these Benches have a great deal of sympathy with all that has been said and we support these amendments.