Speaking at the council’s children and young people scrutiny committee on 3 June, Reform UK’s Andy Osborn said some children in care homes are "downright evil".
Councillor Osborn said: "Talking to a neighbour who used to work in one of these care homes, some of these children are not just naughty, they can be downright evil, smashing cars up, running away from home, and on drugs.
“It is not just a case of somebody being a bad boy or a bad girl, it is a case of they have learnt from their bad parents not to react correctly."
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Osborn’s comments have drawn stinging criticism from across the children’s social care sector with posters on Linked In branding them “unacceptable”, “disgraceful” and “discriminatory”.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Cambridgeshire County Council said it “reaffirmed” its commitment to supporting the children in its care and people with care experience and delivering on its corporate parenting duties.
Councillor Edna Murphy, chair of the council’s children and young people committee, said: “Care experienced people often face significant barriers that impact them throughout their lives, and despite the resilience of many care experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account. We must make sure that all children and young people are given opportunities to thrive.
“As part of our legal responsibilities, we have a responsibility to act as corporate parents for all the children who are in our care as a council. We take this role extremely seriously; these children are our children, and, like any parent, we want to ensure they get the best services and support, to enable them to thrive.”
“However, our commitment goes beyond our statutory duties. We will support all the children and young people in our care to be healthy and safe, feel cared about, valued and respected as individuals and will help them prepare well for adulthood, enabling them to achieve their goals.”
In early 2024, the council became one of the earlier authorities to make care a protected characteristic.
Martin Purbrick, Cambridgeshire’s executive director for children, education and families, added: “Any child in care is a child that will have experienced early childhood trauma, this can really change the way that they are able to manage their own emotions. Often, they will put themselves at risk rather than other people. We need to make sure the children we are responsible for get good quality, consistent care which enables them to become adults who can contribute to society and achieve their ambitions.”
“We offer support to all those families who need it, with the aim of keeping as many children at home as possible. Our low rate of children in care compared to many other areas really demonstrates the success of our services in supporting families to make changes and reduce the number of children who need to come into care.”
Since the furore over his comments, Osborn has been removed from the council's children and young people committee and replaced by fellow Reform UK councillor James Sidlow.
In May's English local elections, 677 Reform UK councillors were elected with the party taking control of several county councils.
