Member News from Together Trust: Championing the needs, rights and experiences of Children in Care in Parliament

This morning (26 March), our Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns Manager Lucy Croxton gave evidence to the Education Committee at Parliament as a part of a panel on children’s social care.

The panel provided evidence on why costs related to children’s social care are rising; how need is not necessarily being addressed at the right stage in the social care journey; and the increasing complexity in needs and a lack of suitable provision for these children. Discussions also centred around profiteering in children’s social care and how a lack of homes is leading to out of area placements.

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​Lucy championed a need for children in the care system or who have experienced care to have a voice in, not only their own homes, but also in a wider context of national policy - where people with lived experience of the care system have a chance to affect government policy around children’s social care. 

Alongside this, she also discussed the need for collaboration between care providers in the voluntary sector where vast amounts of knowledge can be shared.

She also spoke about the barriers of entry to providers opening new residential homes for children and the issues these can cause in terms of providers moving to semi-independent homes where there have been problems in terms of quality of care. 

She gave evidence gathered from young people we have supported who have previously experienced semi-independent homes and the negative impact that these placements have had. 

Alongside Lucy, the panel also included John Pearce – President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services; Roger Gough - Children’s Services Spokesperson, County Councils Network; Stuart Ashley - Director of Children’s Services, Hampshire County Council; Dan Turnbull, Senior Director for Markets, Competitions and Markets Authority; Mr Andrew Isaac – Chair of Children’s Services Development Group and Dr Mark Kerr.

To find out more about our campaigning work and where we stand on a number of issues, visit: https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/campaigning

Source:
www.togethertrust.org.uk/news/