My Lords, at the outset of my remarks I will take up what I thought was a very important point made by the noble Lord, Lord Bichard. He was really rather laying into the universities for their total failure to play the part they should be playing in ensuring the opportunities they should be ensuring in society. I am sure that he will agree that what universities are all suffering from is a neurosis about league tables and allowing nothing to detract from the job of getting the good academic records that are necessary to enable them to survive and secure the resources they need.
Part of their remit should be to address social issues and to help build an inclusive society. Therefore, they should make sure that they are being brave in their selection methods and that, within their operation, once those from disadvantaged or vulnerable backgrounds have been selected, there are arrangements in place to ensure that they do not fail and, as it were, compound the disaster. It is essential that they do all that. I think that it is absolutely deplorable that the universities are not, in all their deliberations between themselves and the rest, agonising about this issue and thinking about how they can tackle it, rather than, as they are at the moment, seeing it as a difficulty and an obstacle to achieving the excellence which they see as their overriding culture.
The noble Baroness, Lady Shephard, entreated us to avoid inadvertently generating a negative spin around what is a hopeful Bill. I agree with her: I see the Bill as a glass half full, not one that is half empty, but it will quite a challenge to all of us in this House to fill the glass. In order to fill the glass it is very important to see the situation against which the Bill must be measured. It is not just a bit of legislation that can be looked at theoretically, academically and intellectually; it is a matter of looking at the needs and challenges all the time, as my noble friend Lady Lister just said clearly, and making sure that what is proposed meets people’s real, existing needs.
If we are going to do that, it seems to me that it is terribly important to listen to the agencies in our own society that carry so much of the responsibility and do the work—the front-line agencies. There is, of course, the very interesting Children’s Rights Alliance that brings together a number of charities and voluntary organisations which are carrying heavy burdens in this respect and doing exemplary pioneer work. I was very struck by a communiqué that it sent out in the last few days which drew our attention to the work of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. We should not sigh at the mention of that body as we were right in the front line of arguing for the creation of this mutual concern at the UN and the machinery to deal with it and monitor the situation around the world. So when the committee makes reports, it behoves us to heed them and see what they say.
The Children’s Rights Alliance points out that the UN report published last Thursday made 150 specific observations about the inadequacy of the situation within the United Kingdom—that is, people from outside constructively looking at the situation and what needs to be addressed. The UN body says that
the situation has improved since 2008 when it last reported, which is to the credit of the Government. But it makes some very clear observations. That is not easy for some people to accept.
The UN committee makes the point that,
“fiscal policies and allocation of resources”,
are,
“disproportionately affecting children in disadvantaged situations”.
It also points out that,
“when developing laws and policies affecting children”,
it is essential to look at the real needs which that legislation is designed to address, as I said a moment ago. The UN committee also says that it is very important for the Government to develop a comprehensive action plan in which all relevant government departments are involved and not simply to confine the responsibility to a limited area, as all government departments dealing with society have a responsibility in this regard.
I will draw attention quickly to some of the committee’s other observations. It says that we must urgently,
“get to grips with the shocking numbers of children suffering mental health problems by developing a comprehensive strategy to make sure these children’s needs are not ignored and they can access vital services”.
I know that a lot of thought is being given to this, but we are now being encouraged by the international community to take that seriously. The document also says that we should:
“‘Strictly implement’ the ban on placing children and families in temporary accommodation, including B&Bs, for longer than the six week legal limit. The UN highlighted the damaging long term impact on children’s health”,
that such accommodation can have if it is “dirty, unsafe and overcrowded”. It is very firm on the point that the number of children in custody must be reduced, and that we need to tackle the,
“disproportionate number of … children from care in the youth justice system”.
Of course, there has been a good deal of comment on that point in this debate. The committee also says that we should,
“make immediate improvements to the treatment of children in custody, including stopping the use of solitary confinement and abolishing the use of deliberately painful restraint on children”.
Here we come to a point that has been raised. I understand the arguments made on the other side—namely, that it is important to get all the people involved in taking the necessary action to take their responsibilities as seriously as they should. But I am afraid that I come down on the other side. What the children we are talking about have so often lacked in life is any stability. They have lived in chaos and have no experience of sustained, continuing friendship, partnership and support. One needs people to work with those children over a prolonged period to help them to find their way through all the arrangements, the legislation and the rest. That is very important indeed.
The UN committee also makes the point that our asylum policy needs to speed up and streamline action to ensure that,
“unaccompanied and separated children reunite with their family from both within and outside the UK”.
That plea comes from people in voluntary agencies and NGOs across the country who carry this real responsibility.
I will finish with this point. What examples are there of specific action that can be taken? I urge noble Lords to look at the brief that was sent out by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, because it underlines a terribly important priority. It makes the point that communication difficulties are very often central to all that goes wrong, and that not enough is being done—and not enough can be done in so many ways—to ensure that all through the system people are helped with communication. This means, of course, speech therapy and the rest, but it means a lot more in that context. I urge colleagues on all sides of the House to look at that very succinct and interesting brief.
Finally, I will share with noble Lords the view that so often the crises with which we are dealing are a challenge to the prevailing values in our society—for example, the blame culture in the media, which makes me wonder sometimes how there is any morale left in the social work profession. We should send a message of solidarity and admiration from our debates to the social work profession. If you make greed the central driving force in society, there will inevitably be many casualties. We have to re-examine our own values.
7.48 pm