Children and Families Bill

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention and I pay tribute to his work in opposition...

The Minister makes an important point about the role of the wider family in caring for vulnerable...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. From his work and his personal experience of dealing with...

The Minister will be aware of Scope’s campaign for children with disabilities. Will he be coming ...

The hon. Gentleman has written to me about the campaign, as have many Members. As part of the pre...

I recognise the importance of my hon. Friend’s commitment to taking account of the concerns of pa...

The story of my hon. Friend’s constituent is one that I have heard from many Members who have, in...

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way, and I compliment him on many of the measures in the...

I will come on to address those issues, but it is important to say at this juncture that we are n...

I commend my hon. Friend for the way he is presenting the Bill. Does he agree that this is not ju...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who has on many occasions displayed his deep knowledge and under...

rose—

I will make progress. I know that everyone is keen to get in, and many people have been sitting h...

I refer the House to my declaration of interest as chairman of the Justice for Families campaign....

I am very much aware of my hon. Friend’s views and have conversed with him on a number of occasio...

Nobody would disagree that it is important that we reduce the time scale for children to be adopt...

The hon. Gentleman raises an extremely important point. We know that the level of adoption breakd...

Will the Minister give way?

Briefly. The hon. Gentleman has had one crack of the whip; I will give him one more.

I am grateful. The Minister has made a good point about getting the balance right between speed o...

If the hon. Gentleman bears with me, I will come to that point in a moment, and I will address it...

I know that the Minister is very much aware of the issues facing kinship carers—in fact, I think ...

I am aware of the issue the hon. Lady raises. I have just set out the principles that remain in p...

Will the Minister say something to reassure Barnardo’s and others that, given that 80% of current...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Select Committee Chairman and I take his question in the spir...

The Minister is being generous with his time and is setting out quite a compelling vision for the...

We have provided local authorities with £150 million to try to improve their adoption service. Th...

Is not the key issue the fact that although about 4,500 children are waiting to be adopted, poten...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why we are streamlining the assessment process for ad...

In response to the question by the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell...

One of the reasons we want to encourage local authorities, through this additional funding, to mo...

I congratulate the Minister on the way in which he is commanding the House in presenting this Bil...

We know from research done by Julie Selwyn at Bristol university that for every year a child is n...

The role of mediation has been generally welcomed, but it will require mediators. At the moment, ...

The mediator will not be a court clerk or court officer. An independent mediator will be assigned...

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rose—

I am conscious of the time and I still have a lot of material to get through, so I will take just...

As a former child and family social worker, I value what the Minister is saying about the importa...

That is what I was going to say!

I will try to kill two birds with one stone, in that case. That is not a matter for this Bill and...

My hon. Friend has made it clear on many occasions that the Bill is not intended or likely to lea...

My right hon. Friend knows from his astute chairmanship of the Justice Committee that the intenti...

The Minister may be aware that CLIC Sargent, the children’s cancer charity, has raised concerns a...

The hon. Gentleman raises an important issue, and I thank him for alerting me to it prior to the ...

What can the Minister say to reassure those who are concerned that children with a specific disab...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, and I know from having paid a visit to his all-party group on yo...

I want to express my profound disappointment that the Government have not taken the opportunity p...

Although the hon. Lady has raised an issue that is not covered in the Bill, it is an important on...

rose—

Order. Before I call Stephen Twigg, I inform the House that, initially, there will be an eight-mi...

I congratulate the Minister both on his opening remarks and on his wider handling of the Bill. In...

I appreciate that the Minister tried to cover a lot of ground quickly, but his response to the ho...

I share my hon. Friend’s concerns, but I will come to a number of ways in which the Bill needs to...

My hon. Friend may know that the bottom 25% of middle class children, on measures of cognitive ab...

Like my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Steve McCabe), my hon. Friend anticipat...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. If I may, I will take this opportunity to con...

I pay tribute to the right hon. Lady for her lengthy record of work on this issue, including secu...

I agree with the hon. Gentleman about imposing as best we can on health, but the NHS has a consti...

The hon. Gentleman refers to an important point, which makes the case for the agenda on health an...

Having spent time working in the children’s hospice movement, I am well aware of families constan...

Absolutely. The hon. Gentleman raises an important point, and I will come on to the Government’s ...

I am grateful to the shadow Secretary of State. Just to try to answer his question, we intend to ...

I am wary of ever disagreeing with the illustrious Education Committee—[Interruption.] That appli...

We have had situations where affirmative and super-affirmative resolutions have been used so we c...

That is absolutely right and sensible. The spirit of the Minister’s speech, and his and the Gover...

indicated assent.

I welcome the Minister indicating from a sedentary position that that is the case. Parents were t...

My hon. Friend will be aware that young carers can also have lower educational attainment. Does h...

Absolutely, and I shall briefly address the issue of young carers later in my speech. I pay tribu...

That is a very important point. I have served on the pre-legislative scrutiny Committee for the d...

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. She anticipates my next point, as I was about to say...

Does the shadow Secretary of State not acknowledge that what was proposed and became law in Austr...

I certainly do not doubt the sincerity of the attempt to address this issue and to learn from the...

The hon. Gentleman’s point about the work done by local authorities before care proceedings is ex...

I understand that specifying a time limit in that way in primary legislation is very unusual inte...

Does my hon. Friend share my fear that agencies may cream off a profit and add costs to parents r...

My hon. Friend has raised a legitimate concern that has been expressed by a number of other peopl...

rose—

Order. I am now imposing an eight-minute limit.

6.6 pm

I welcome the Bill. It is a Bill of many parts.

I intend to concentrate on the clauses that...

I have personal and family experience and experience in local and central Government of the matte...

It is a pleasure to follow the former Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Bright...

Can we nail that misconception straight away? The provision has nothing to do with giving rights ...

I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman and former Minister on what we are seeking to achieve, b...

But it is wrong.

As the hon. Gentleman says, it is wrong; perhaps the Government will have to make it rather clear...

I represent one of the youngest constituencies in the UK: over 20% of the population of my boroug...

The Children and Families Bill is a hugely important piece of legislation, and a huge tribute to ...

You should put it on YouTube.

I will resist the temptation to put it on YouTube.

The schools that I have mentioned and ot...

The principle that the interests of the child are paramount, which is enshrined in the Children A...

I strongly support the case that the hon. Lady is making, but that applies to older children as w...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that. What he says is quite right. It is a problem that goes right...

It is a pleasure to take part in this debate, which has been interesting throughout. I congratula...

indicated dissent.

No, that would be unusual. Perhaps the Minister who will sum up can tell us more about what the c...

I recognise what the Minister is trying to do in seeking to reform important areas of law affecti...

One concern I have encountered a lot in my constituency is where a child has something that is di...

I do indeed share that concern. Similar issues have been raised with me in my discussions with di...

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate and to welcome the Bill, which covers such a broad range...

Is it not the case that children who are in detention are more likely to have special educational...

I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention; she is right. We must recognise that the Minister ha...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard), who ...

I hope that the hon. Lady heard me refer to the adoption reform grant, which was recently made av...

I thank the Minister for clarifying that, but he might want to refer to his Department’s own webs...

My hon. Friend is making a compelling argument. The Minister seems to be shaking his head at what...

I agree with my hon. Friend. In addition, my local authority in Manchester is experiencing a huge...

I congratulate all Ministers who have been involved in this Bill, past and present, on many measu...

I welcome many of the changes in part 1 of the Bill to streamline the adoption process and the pr...

Like the right hon. Gentleman, my background is in law, although not in family law. I know from m...

Mr Justice Ryder, who is in overall charge of this area, gave evidence to the Justice Committee n...

I appreciate that this is a Second Reading debate, but it may be worth the right hon. Gentleman a...

I am afraid that does not explain why some corners of the press still believe that to be the case...

Repeating the misconceptions in the press does not help. Does the right hon. Gentleman not accept...

I have been practising in the courts for quite a time, and as I understand it, there is a presump...

I want to address a couple of points relating to the special educational needs reforms in the Bil...

rose—

Order. Owing to the number of speakers, I am going to drop the speech limit to seven minutes.

As I indicated in an earlier intervention, I wish to focus on the serious impact that the Bill co...

I congratulate Ministers and ex-Ministers on this Bill—the way it has proceeded and been put toge...

It is vital for our children and young people that the Bill delivers the change that they want an...

I am glad my hon. Friend mentions the impact of the bedroom tax on foster carers. Has he consider...

My fellow member of the Education Committee makes a strong point. The Minister must address the i...

This huge and important Bill intends to improve services for vulnerable children and to support s...

It is a pleasure to take part in this high-quality debate today on a Bill that we on the Oppositi...

I shall concentrate my few words, before my voice gives out, on special educational needs. The Bi...

It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous) who, despite struggling to...

This Bill is clearly close to the hearts of Ministers, hon. Members and many of our constituents....

The Bill covers such a medley of issues about which I and many of my constituents care deeply tha...

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in support of the Bill, albeit briefly. I offer my ...

We know there is a problem, do we not, because these cases so often fill our constituency surgeri...

I am grateful. It is a problem that we have all known about, but have shied away from doing somet...

The hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) served with distinction in his role...

I start by paying tribute to the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Membe...

The general view of the House is that the Bill is a good one that could improve the quality of li...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell), who made ve...

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s work on special educational needs, particularly autism. Does he...

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. A large cohort of children and young people with dis...

I begin by supporting the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport (Ann Coffey). In Ro...

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate and to follow the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champ...

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this interesting debate. I wish to focus on on...

I am desperate to speak in this debate, because I really want to be on the Public Bill Committee,...

We welcome the coalition’s first Bill to focus on children and families. We especially welcome th...

I am delighted to respond to this debate and, alongside the Under-Secretary of State for Educatio...