Tag: children

Bishop of Manchester asks about children’s social care reform

The Bishop of Manchester received the following written answers on 4th December 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase investment in early intervention and prevention as part of children’s social care reform.

Baroness Barran (Con, DfE): The government has invested billions in local services. This year alone, the total social care grant for local government is over £2 billion. In the ‘Stable Homes Built on Love’ Strategy, the department outlined its plans to build on the strengths of current early help and Child in Need services, through the creation of Family Help.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about underage children working in delivery services

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 28th November 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to tackle the issue of underage children working as delivery app riders.

Lord Offord of Garvel (Con, Department for Business & Trade): In the UK children’s employment is regulated through national and local legislation.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about success of networking hubs to deal with asylum claims for children and young people

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the success of dedicated networking hubs to speed up asylum claims for children and young people on 22nd November 2023, during a discussion on safe routes available for child refugees and asylum seekers to come to the UK:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, in May 2021, recognising the need to speed up the applications for child asylum seekers, the Government set up two dedicated caseworking hubs to try to process these claims more quickly. What assessment, two and half years on, has been made of the success of these dedicated hubs, and what more could be done to speed up the claims of young people as they seek asylum?

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Bishop of Worcester asks about children’s hospices

The Bishop of Worcester asked a question on the work of hospices caring for children with terminal and long term conditions during a discussion on hospice funding on 14th November 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Worcester: My Lords, I am grateful for this announcement. We have a wonderful hospice in Worcester, the Acorns Children’s Hospice, which does extraordinary work with young people. Does the Minister accept that, although a minority of children die in hospices, the number of children cared for by them greatly exceeds that. Their work is invaluable.

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Bishop of Durham asks about children’s wellbeing

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 25th October 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Children’s Society’s The Good Childhood Report 2023, published on 20 September, and what plans they have to implement its recommendations to promote the wellbeing of children.

Lord Markham (Con, DHSC): The Government is grateful for the Good Childhood Report and has noted its findings. The Children’s Commissioner’s Family Review covers similar issues and the Government’s response to this will be published imminently.

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Bishop of Derby asks about mental health services for young people

The Bishop of Derby received the following written answer on 24th October 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Derby asked His Majesty’s Government, following the Children’s Society’s The Good Childhood Report 2023, published on 20 September, what steps the Department of Health and Social Care’s Major Conditions Strategy will take to prevent poor mental health and promote wellbeing in children and young people.

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Bishop of Durham asks about educational attainment for children in the social care system

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 17th October 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government:

  • further to the Action for Children’s report, The Educational Outcomes of Children Referred to Children’s Social Care: A Revolving Doors Report, published on 22 August, and data from the annual children in need census, what assessment they have made of the gap in educational attainment between children who have interacted with the children’s social care system, and their peers who have not.
  • what steps they are taking to improve the educational attainment and GCSE results of children who interact with the children’s social care system.
  • what steps they are taking, beyond the school gates, to provide support to children who have interacted with the children’s social care system.
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Bishop of Durham asks about unaccompanied asylum seeking children

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 17th October 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government whether, in the instance a child is found after going missing from Home Office accommodation, they are initially returned to hotel accommodation or the care of the local authority.

Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con, Home Office): When a missing child is found, a referral to the local authority is made with a clear expectation that they are taken into local authority care.

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Children and Families Act Committee Report: Bishop of Durham speaks on importance of childhood experience

On 6th September 2023, the Bishop of Durham spoke in a committee debate on a report from the Children and Families Act 2014 Committee: A Failure of implementation, referencing the findings of the Archbishops Commission on Families and Households and the need to safeguard children as being at the heart of Christian teaching:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, for securing this debate, and the whole Children and Families Act Committee for its work on this excellent report and for highlighting all the issues.

Our experiences of childhood and family life shape who we are and who we become. When children and families flourish, society flourishes. This is not a new understanding: in the little we hear of Jesus as a child, the gospel writer Luke highlights how he grew physically, socially, intellectually and spiritually. His childhood shaped his adult ministry.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about rates of malnutrition in the UK

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 4th September 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many deaths occurred in England and Wales in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, and (4) 2022, where malnutrition was either the cause of death or was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con, Cabinet Office): The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the response attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

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