Foundations are laid to boost prospects for children in care

But what about parenting for those children who are in state care? They are the seven in every 1,000 children, totalling more than 92,000 across the UK in 2013. It falls to us all collectively to help ensure children in our care receive the same benefits from active parenting as our own children. On the other side of the coin, we all have a moral duty to ensure that children in our care do not experience the negative effects of poor parenting.

There are all sorts of mechanisms in place to ensure children get a fair deal - laws, regulations and guidance, all enforced variously by inspection and enabled by allocations of funding. There are, literally, thousands of pages of guidance, aimed at making sure that services provided by disparate agencies are joined up, and that professionals and carers are properly trained and supported so that children's needs are genuinely met. It doesn't work perfectly by any means, but the intentions are good and things are much better than they were only a few years ago. There is still a major gap between the outcomes for children in the care system and the overall population, but the gap is showing signs of closing. While there are still too many care leavers who are not in education, employment or training, or who are imprisoned for criminal offences, there are fewer in these categories - and there are more care leavers who go on to higher education and good jobs.