Young people made the claim and shared personal experiences of accessing services, including social care and mental health, at a meeting of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for children and sector experts including Children's Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza.
The APPG, in collaboration with the National Children’s Bureau and chaired by APPGC co-chair Baroness Tyler, saw one young person remark that she’s “not asking, but begging the next government to change the system”.
Care leavers, parents, and children with special educational needs and mental health struggles spoke to key sector figures and parliamentarians on 14 May at Porticullis House, Westminster.
De Souza opened discussions by bringing her young ambassadors onto the stage with her, and called for every party to write children’s versions of their manifestos.
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A year on from the publication of the Care Review…
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The service that’s helping children feel less alone
Support for care-experienced children was discussed, as former children’s minister and Conservative MP Tim Loughton called for the government to invest more into care leavers. He revealed that Josh MacAlister’s final report as chair of the Independent Review of Children's Social Care called for the same recommendations that were in the Munroe review of child protection, published in 2011, with Baroness Tyler saying MacAlister’s review is “referenced a lot in the House of Lords”.
Loughton, who has said he will step down as an MP at the next general election, was joined by Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson on the panel.
Wilson said there is “no momentum” in the fight for better experiences for care-experienced people, adding that “it’s the people in government putting investment in who can make the recommended changes from the care review”.
Young people shared powerful statements and personal stories, highlighting that “children are 20% of the population but 100% of the future", and adding “if [sharing] our personal stories really worked, change might have been done by now”.
Labour MP and shadow women and equalities minister Ashley Dalton and Green Party representative Ria Patel made up the rest of the panel, with both calling for greater collaboration with youth councils to amplify children's voices among decision makers.
The rise in poor mental health among children since the pandemic was also discussed, with Loughton calling for more mental health drop-ins for young people to be created in a bid to increase early diagnosis. He also called for better legislation around preventing harm to young people through social media.
Wilson added that mental health is “an absolute emergency”, adding that “children are not being heard". She continued by saying "we need early intervention, and a fresh approach, spending more per head on children’s mental health than adult mental health”.
Baroness Tyler added that she is currently working to push a private member’s bill through the House of Lords on greater mental health provision in schools.
