| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. Hutton: I certainly accept the hon. Gentleman's concern in relation to Wales. Regulations made under this part of the Bill will be the responsibility of the National Assembly for Wales, not my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. I am sure that the National Assembly will want to ensure that any such regulations cover the points to which the hon. Gentleman has referred.
I have forgotten what point I had reached in my speech, but I do not suppose it makes a great deal of difference, so I shall continue.
We believe that young people continue to need help and support even after they leave care and legally become adults at 18. However, they must be supported as adults, in the adult world. The Bill provides that the responsible authority must continue to keep in touch with such a young person until he is at least 21, and must continue to provide him with a young person's adviser and a pathway plan.
The Bill also introduces a new set of duties to assist those young people. The responsible authority has a duty to provide general assistance, in cash or in kind, and
assistance with the costs associated with employment, education and training until the young person reaches 21, so long as his welfare requires it. If he is in education or training, the responsible authority must assist, if necessary, until the end of the agreed programme of education or training, even if that takes the young person past the age of 21. If the young person is in higher education, the responsible authority must provide vacation accommodation, or the means to secure it, if necessary.Since the pathway plan will continue to be revised and updated at least every six months to take account of the young person's changing needs and achievements, it is possible to envisage a case where someone coming late to education started his GCSEs at, say, 20, did well and was supported by the local authority through A-levels, a degree and even beyond.
It is important to be clear about what those new duties mean. This is not the same duty to accommodate and maintain which applies to the younger group of 16 and 17-year-old eligible and relevant children. There will be no changes to the benefits regime for those of 18 and over, and they will be expected to find the bulk of their funding through the same routes as anyone else. The new duties are, however, a significant advance on the present position, whereby those young people are able to fall back only on local authority powers, not duties, to assist them--powers that we know are not used as extensively or as consistently as we would like.
Mr. Dawson: Will my hon. Friend confirm that the new duties on local authorities will ensure that those young people for whom it is appropriate will be able to remain in foster care and residential care beyond the age of 18?
Mr. Hutton: Yes, I have no difficulty in giving my hon. Friend that assurance.
The Bill also extends authorities' powers to assist care leavers with education and training, which are both important. Currently, they can do so up to the age of 24 only if the young person starts the course before the age of 21. Clause 4 will get rid of that restriction, allowing local authorities to provide assistance whenever the young person starts the course. That provides a further safety net for young people aged 21 to 24 who fail to take up education options while the authority still has a duty to assist them. As I said, clause 4 also places a new duty on local authorities to assist such care leavers in higher education with vacation accommodation where it is needed.
All those new arrangements for young people in and leaving care will be underpinned by a new financial regime, the foundations of which will be laid by clause 6. We believe that one reason for the trend of children leaving care at 16 is the perverse financial incentive for local authorities to push them on to benefits and so on to the benefits budget. The new financial arrangements will remove that incentive and recognise that young people in and leaving care need proper support and guidance, and not just cash.
The funds from income support, housing benefit and jobseeker's allowance--to which those young people are entitled--will, therefore, be transferred to a new budget,
to be allocated to local authorities to support those young people properly. The budget will be based on local authorities' existing spend on that group, drawing in additional resources from the children's social services special grant and making extra money available to ensure that local authorities are able to fulfil their new duties to this vulnerable group.We want local authorities to act more like responsible parents towards the children in and leaving their care. We recognise that, at present, certain 16 and 17-year-olds, such as disabled children and lone parents, are eligible for income support even if they live at home with their parents, which acknowledges that they have special needs. The new financial arrangements will continue to recognise that those groups have special needs.
Ms Julie Morgan (Cardiff, North): Many young people in Wales, particularly those from the Voices from Care group whom I have met, have expressed great concern about their transfer to the local authority from the benefits system. They are concerned that they might not have access to some of the services that they can use at present, such as crisis loans, and that the regulations that guide the benefits system will not apply. Can my hon. Friend reassure me on those points?
Mr. Hutton: I am very anxious to reassure my hon. Friend on those points. Young children leaving care will not be worse off under the proposed arrangements. There is every possibility that they will be better supported by local authorities. That aspect of our proposals drew strong support from children's organisations in the consultation exercise undertaken on "Me, Survive Out There?". They could see the benefit of it.
We are trying to make it easier for children to get the support that they need. The benefits system is a complex one through which to navigate a path and many young children leaving care do not get the support that they need from that system. We shall not reduce the amount of support for young children leaving care--far from it. We are looking at ways to increase the support that young people can enjoy in future.
The new financial arrangements will continue to recognise that those groups have special needs. Clause 6 contains provisions that will allow the Secretary of State to except certain groups from the new financial arrangements, and we intend to use that power to ensure that disabled children and lone parents keep their present entitlements to income support.
In combination with other related initiatives to help that age group, the Bill should mean that fewer young people will be discharged from care as soon as they reach their 16th birthday; more young people will stay in contact with the responsible authority and receive support for as long as they need it; more young people will live in suitable accommodation and maintain a stable tenancy; more young people will be in education, training and employment; and fewer young people will become socially excluded--that means fewer will be sleeping rough, in prison, dependent on benefits and living in poor and unsuitable conditions.
Young people of 16 and 17 will no longer be forced to rely on the benefits system for their support. The local authority will be under a duty to provide for them, whether they stay in care or not. To ensure that no one
loses out, we shall set minimum standards for support in statutory guidance. I hope that that will reassure my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, North (Ms Morgan).The new duties to assist care leavers until they are at least 21 are especially important for education and training. Young people coming through the care system are likely to have lost ground relative to their peers. We shall give them the chance to catch up and gain the qualifications that are so important to making a career in the modern world.
The Bill and the other initiatives that we are taking forward, including our strategies to tackle social exclusion, should ensure that young people in and leaving care get a fair deal at long last. For too long many young people have fallen into the trap of poverty, joblessness and homelessness after leaving care, because no one gave them the help they needed. The Bill will provide that helping hand and give care leavers a better opportunity to realise their true potential.
In legislating in this way, and by means of the other steps that we are taking, the Government are making two very clear statements. First, we will act to correct injustice and poor provision wherever we find it. We will put the interests of those young people who have been badly let down by the system first and foremost, and we will make the necessary investment now to secure their futures.
Mr. David Kidney (Stafford): I am glad that my hon. Friend is determined to take action, under the Bill and other measures, where standards fall below what is expected. Will the Government be assisted by the children's rights director or a children's rights commissioner in ensuring that they live up to their word on that?
Mr. Hutton: Yes, certainly the children's rights director will have a specific remit on the regulated services for which the National Care Standards Commission has responsibility, including children's homes and local authority adoption and fostering services. The children's rights director will have an important contribution to make in ratcheting up the standard of services.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |