Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 27: 27: Clause 15, page 13, leave out line 8 and insert— ““(a) a young person becomes 25 or has been assessed as no longer likely to benefit from an independent visitor;”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, the aim of the amendment is to enable an independent visitor to continue their work until the young person is aged 25 or until the young person has been assessed as no longer likely to benefit from an independent visitor. Clause 14 makes it clear that the independent visitor or the local authority may terminate the appointment at any time. I suggest no change to that. Without this amendment to the clause, however, the appointment would automatically be terminated in every case when the child ceases to be looked after by the local authority, if I have understood this correctly. This latter stipulation concerns me. Is it right that the support of an independent visitor is required by law to end at precisely the point when the young person ceases to be in care and when other supports are also likely to be withdrawn? In east London, where I chair a mental health trust that includes a CAMH service, when the child leaves care or ceases to be looked after, he or she is automatically transferred to someone else; there is automatically a double whammy. I understand that this is normal practice in child protection work. At the same time, the young person is likely to move from a foster family or care home to an independent housing facility. I am aware of a young person who, as we speak, is in a psychiatric adult ward. I understand that the traumatic transition from looked-after status and the changes and transitions involved at that time have contributed substantially to his breakdown and admission to an adult ward. Anything that the Government can do to introduce some stability through the transition from looked-after status is surely terribly important. We debated a similar amendment in Committee. Since then, I have discussed the amendment with the Bill team and thank it for its helpful advice. The other development since our earlier debate is the Government’s own amendment, which gives the Secretary of State a power to promote the well-being of care leavers and, by regulation, to extend the power to other groups of young people under the age of 25. All I propose in the amendment is to add a very small amount of flesh to the bones of the Government’s amendment. Independent visitors are paid only their expenses; the Bill team tells me that on average this amounts to some £2,000 a year. I seek the Minister’s agreement that, when a young person leaves their home and loses their social worker, if an assessment shows that continuation of the independent visitor’s work would be helpful to the young person and if the independent visitor is happy to continue working with the young person—they may not be—the local authority should be able to continue to pay the very small expenses of the independent visitor. The whole point of an independent visitor, as I understand it, is to be an anchor for the young person through the traumas of transition and the ups and downs of young adult life. There is little doubt that one of the consequences of failing to provide sufficient anchors for young people who need them is that many turn to crime, with the vast expense involved. In conclusion, I hope that the Minister will agree to amend the absolute requirement in Clause 14 that the appointment of an independent visitor must cease, "““when the child ceases to be looked after by the local authority””." I know that the Minister wants to do his best to achieve the right outcome for looked-after children and young people; along with everyone else, I have huge respect for him and for the work that he has done on the Bill and in many other arenas of life. I beg to move.