North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called for a Welsh Government Statement on the proportion of children being taken into care in Wales following a rise in numbers.
Mr Isherwood is concerned that the figure is significantly higher in Wales than in England. Raising the matter in this week’s Business Statement, he said:
“I call for a Welsh Government Statement on the proportion of children being taken into care in Wales. The number of care applications in Wales rose by 16 per cent in the year to March 2015 and has continued to rise since.
“Whereas 30 per cent of section 31 care applications are being heard by magistrates in Wales, it is radically different to the situation in England where the proportion of children taken into care is significantly lower than in Wales.
“The Children’s Commissioner has said that contributing factors could be less effective family support services, more risk-averse professionals and legal teams and higher child poverty levels, and that Welsh Government’s emphasis on reducing looked-after children numbers must be accompanied by effective support for children and their families, which, of course, includes both parents. I call for a statement to the Assembly accordingly.”
The Minister for Government Business, Jane Hutt AM, said: “We very much welcome the Children’s Commissioner’s clear policy, thinking and evidence, and, indeed, her own deep experience in the field of care in terms of the opportunities to ensure that children can remain in their homes with the support that they need and require. But, recognising that this is a matter where we are at one with the views and evidence of the Children’s Commissioner - of course, that is what we’re working to with the Minister for Health and Social Services; working in the grain in terms of those policy recommendations from the children’s commissioner’s report.”