My Lords, I support Amendment 11, to which my name is attached, as it was in Committee. To reiterate what I said then, and despite the very good debate we have already had today on Amendment 2, the Bill itself is currently almost devoid of references to relationships; indeed, you might almost say it is a bit of a relationship-free zone. That is ironic when what we are all trying to do here is improve the lot of the very vulnerable children and young people who most need love, warmth, emotional security and human empathy to help them on their journey through life, given their very troubled start. It is a statement of the blindingly obvious that good relationships are utterly indispensable to that end.
The noble Lord, Lord Farmer, who is such a passionate advocate in this field, has already referred to the need for a change in the culture of many local authorities so that they also make promoting relationships central to their work. I know that there are some very good examples of good practice here, but I want to talk very briefly about what cultural change requires and why it is important. It could be assumed that good-quality relationships, particularly the support of peers and adults who are not paid to take an interest, are somehow nice to have but out of the reach of many young people in, or coming into, the care system. If so, that assumption will shape a local authority’s response. It will focus almost exclusively on ensuring that a young person has the material, financial and practical support that they need in the absence of the family ties through which these things typically come. It will also put a greater load on the social worker and personal adviser role.
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If, however, the assumption is that the local authority can and must ensure that a young person leaves care with what you might call the emotional ballast that a supportive network provides, practice will look very different. So changing the language and constantly reiterating the more relational emphasis that I know the Government want to promote will help change those assumptions and the culture, which is why the amendment is so important. It is also why the Bill needs to be explicit about local authorities’ responsibilities to help young people build and maintain relationships with people who are genuinely interested in them as individuals. For example, maintaining ties with family members such as siblings or grandparents is a really important example here because, even if that young person has had to be removed from their family, those bonds still exist and they cannot and should not be severed lightly. As the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, said, we know that in their early days many of these young people whom we are so concerned about have, sadly, not had role models of good relationships in the home.
I heard the encouraging words that the Minister said earlier on. He sounded very sympathetic to this amendment, so I am very much looking forward to his response.