If you grew up with parents or carers who could help you with homework, support you through
tough times, and give you a place to come home to in your twenties, it might be hard to imagine
starting adult life without that safety net.
For many care-experienced young people, that is the reality.
In Hull West and Haltemprice, I’ve had the privilege of meeting care-experienced young people through Room 42. They talked about the same things most young people care about: doing well at
college or university, finding a decent place to live, getting a good job, and feeling mentally well.
But they also spoke about things many of us take for granted – like having someone to turn to if
the boiler breaks or you’re struggling to afford food.
Nationally, care leavers are more likely to be out of education, employment or training. Only a
small proportion make it to university. They are more likely to experience mental ill health and
homelessness. None of this is about their abilities or ambitions. It is about the systems around
them.
This Labour Government has made children’s social care a priority. We have set out major
reforms to help families earlier, keep children safely with their families wherever possible, and
ensure that when children do come into care, they are offered stable, loving homes.
We are boosting the Families First programme by £550 million, expanding early help and whole family support so that problems can be tackled before they escalate into crisis. We are legislating
for family group decision-making to be offered before care proceedings, giving extended family
and networks a real say in keeping children safe.
We are also reforming child protection by creating new multi-agency child protection teams,
bringing together social workers, police, health and education. And we are taking on the broken
placements market, tackling profiteering and enabling councils to plan placements together
through Regional Care Co-operatives.
For children in care and care leavers, we are extending corporate parenting responsibilities
across the public sector, strengthening the role of Virtual School Heads, and rolling out Staying
Close support up to 25 so that young people leaving residential care are not left to navigate
adulthood alone.
In total, we’re pumping an additional £2.4 billion into the system to transform outcomes for
families and children in care. But national reform will only succeed if it is shaped by the
experiences of young people themselves.
That’s why I promise to be an MP who is committed to supporting care leavers. For me, that means regularly meeting care-experienced young people here in Hull West and Haltemprice, visiting children’s homes and leaving care services, talking to foster and kinship carers and adopters, and making sure that the voices of those with lived experience are heard in Westminster.
Care-experienced young people are not a problem to be fixed. They are young citizens, with
talents, hopes and dreams like anyone else. Our job – as MPs, as public services, as a society – is
to make sure the systems around them are worthy of their ambition.
I want every care-experienced young person in Hull West and Haltemprice to know this: you are not
forgotten. Your experiences matter. And as your MP, I am committed to supporting care leavers –
listening to you, standing up for you, and working with you to build a future where every child
truly has the chance to achieve and thrive.