Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

My Lords, we fully support the spirit of Amendments Nos. 32 and 33. I was prevented from speaking to the earlier amendments of the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, on this issue because of the ticking of the clock in Grand Committee and a fierce glare from the noble Baroness, Lady Crawley. Healthcare assessments, though already obligated to occur every 12 months for children in continuous care, often do not. Information from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, as the noble Baroness, Lady Massey of Darwen, said, shows that in Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, for example, only 48 per cent of children received a health assessment of some kind. Yet, at the other end of the scale, Trafford was able to provide assessments for all of the children in care in its area. The discrepancy goes to show that, although efforts have been made, not enough is being done. What these statistics do not reveal is what kind of assessment is being given. We agree that it is extremely important that assessments focus not only on the physical health of a child but also on their mental health. Thus we strongly support the intention of the amendment. Amendment No. 33 fits with our position on early intervention: anything that can be done to prevent children going into long-term care is laudable. If a court has made the recommendation and there is obviously a need, it would be a cruel fate to have this denied because of lack of resources or provision of sufficient family therapy services. Though the training of sufficient workers to provide this therapy in sufficient numbers will be expensive, this is an investment to save the enormous amount of money—some £250,000 in some cases—incurred when a child enters the care system for the long term.