John Whitby MP: speeches

Speeches

• 4 Feb 2025 · Children in Care · Hansard source

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  I do agree. It appears as though the Government are expanding the services available to children in kinship care, and that sounds like a good thing. I would like every child in care to have therapeutic support, because they all need it. They have all been massively traumatised by something. The next question is: why has the number of residential placements increased so much faster than the number of children in care? The answer is simple: the number of foster families has remained fairly flat in the same period, despite the significant efforts of authorities and independent fostering agencies to attract new carers.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Children in Care · Hansard source

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  I recognise that children go to placements with plastic bags, and it is heartbreaking. What a fabulous thing the hon. Member has raised. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that approximately 3.8 million people experienced destitution in 2022, including approximately 1 million children—nearly triple the number in 2017. The second factor was the withdrawal of universal early help. Sure Start was withdrawn at different speeds and to differing degrees around the country, as local authorities removed their discretionary spending due to a loss of revenue support from the previous Government. It went from being a universal service to a targeted one. The spending on early help is now £1.8 billion a year less than it was in 2010. Here is the kicker: we are now spending more on children’s residential placements than we are on early help. Early help did exactly what it said on the tin: it provided parents with health and wellbeing support, parenting advice, childcare and learning, and support for children with special needs. There were benefits to social care and to health. Indeed, an Institute for Fiscal Studies study found that Sure Start prevented so many children from being hospitalised that it saved the NHS the equivalent of a third of the entire Sure Start budget. The IFS also stated that Sure Start almost certainly delivered benefits significantly greater than its cost.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Children in Care · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered Government policy on children in care. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir John. I asked for this debate because we as parliamentarians must maintain the focus on children the state is responsible for. I have been a foster carer for 25 years, a member of an adoption panel for a decade and a lead member of a tier 1 local authority, and I have seen the pressures build at the same time as resources and support have declined. The number of children in care has increased by 28% since 2010, and the number of children in residential care has increased by 102% since 2010, so the question is: what has caused these huge spikes? Of course, there are various factors and no consensus view; it would only be fair to say that the number of unaccompanied asylum seekers in care has more than doubled in that period. For me, there are two main factors. First, the significant rise in poverty that started during austerity, coupled with a housing crisis, has pushed more families to the brink. A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that approximately 3.8 million people experienced destitution in 2022.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Children in Care · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that the voice of the child is key at every step of the way. We must listen to children, so advocacy is entirely fundamental. For full disclosure, I should say that I have not received fostering allowances since last May, as I have been busy doing other things, so I have nothing to gain by saying this, but the 32% of local authorities that pay allowances below the national minimum allowance will not attract new foster carers based on altruism alone. Foster carers need a reasonable amount of renumeration, like anyone else. The result of more children needing foster care without a corresponding number of extra foster carers is a crisis in placement sufficiency, which means more children in highly expensive residential placements, in many cases a great distance from their home town.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Children in Care · Hansard source

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  All of government and all councils need to do more. They need to understand that we need to do more for children in care to create a level playing field, because they have such difficult issues to overcome. I completely agree with my hon. Friend. In the same period that the cost of children in care went up to £7 billion, local councils’ overall core funding went down by 9% in real terms. The Government are absolutely right to introduce a financial oversight scheme, because some providers have made excessive profits. It was widely reported that the 20 largest national providers of children’s placements collectively made profits of £310 million in 2021-22. Of course, we must focus on outcomes for children in care, which are historically and currently very poor. In 2018-19, just 6.8% of children in care received a grade 5 or above in English and maths, compared with 43.2% of all children. In turn, that explains why just 22% of care leavers aged 27 are in employment. Even when they are in employment, there is a £6,000 pay gap between care leavers and those in the general population. It would be easy to blame educators or the care sector for the problem, but the reality is that these children have suffered some sort of significant trauma in their lives. Whether that is neglect, abuse or something else, it is never good.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Children in Care · Hansard source

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  I obviously want children to stay in the family network as much as possible. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill supports that with family group decision making and the kinship care offer, so hopefully more children will stay within the familial network, which is better for them and for the state. The previous Government introduced a couple of positive innovations on fostering. They came quite late in their term and were not extended to all areas, but they are worth pursuing. First, they introduced regionalisation. Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire have combined along East Midlands combined county authority lines to form Foster for East Midlands, which creates a combined and increased marketing resource. The results are positive, especially against the backdrop of UK-wide fostering inquiry numbers falling. In preparation for this debate, I did the obligatory Google search for “fostering in Derbyshire” to replicate what a potential new foster carer might find online, and I am afraid Foster for East Midlands was the fifth hit after four sponsored ads. The ability for independents to outspend even combined local authority budgets should not be a surprise, given the significant cost of independent placements compared with local authority placements. The reality is that the taxpayer is paying for them to outspend local authorities. The other recent positive innovation is Mockingbird. One of the most cited reasons for foster carers leaving the role is the lack of support. It is easy for new foster carers to feel isolated, given the nature of the role. Mockingbird puts a constellation of new carers around an experienced foster carer, who will guide and support them, and enables the building of support networks among the carers. If we cannot get enough new foster carers into the system, we need to ensure that the ones we have do not leave unnecessarily. That support means fewer placement breakdowns and less disruption in children’s lives.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Children in Care · Hansard source

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  There is clearly a theme here. I am sure the Minister will address the growing consensus that kinship care needs the support that children in care receive. Children are bound to be impacted by the problems they have experienced. That is not to say that we accept poor results; it is just to put them in context. The statistics show that children who have been in care for longer than 12 months receive better grades than those who have been in care for less than 12 months. That makes sense to me, because the longer they are in care, the longer they have stability in their home lives and a focus on education from their foster carers or residential care workers. It is also worth saying that in my experience, the virtual school is a real positive for the child. That is supported by the fact that persistent absence from school, which has been a national issue since covid, is actually better among the cohort of children in care than the overall school population. With more children, less money and a placement sufficiency crisis, we need to put much more focus on keeping families together and children out of care wherever it is possible and safe to do so. Mandating local authorities to offer family group decision making is a big step forward. The evidence shows that that prevents a significant number of children from going into care in the first place, and keeps them out of care going forward. Following on from family group decision making, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will require all councils to publish a kinship offer, as we have heard, so that more children can stay in more familiar surroundings. Those children will be further supported by the virtual school. On the subject of the virtual school, and with corporate parenting in mind, I encourage the Government to consider taking up the recommendation of the Education Committee to give virtual school heads statutory powers over the process of school allocation. On the subject of corporate parenting, we need to be conscious that this is everyone’s responsibility, and all Government Departments should consider how they can give that bit extra for children in care. When children have left care, we need to go on supporting them. Through Staying Close, young people leaving residential care will be afforded that bit of extra support to keep them in their property or in education, or to support their general wellbeing. Staying Close is another scheme that is bearing fruit, and I am glad it will be expanded by the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. There are many positives to take from the Bill, and just seven months into the new Administration, it is a big step forward. I will finish almost where I started, with early help. The previous Government introduced, in some areas, family hubs, which provide universal early help from pregnancy onwards. The early signs are very encouraging, and I ask the Minister and the Secretary of State to consider extending the programme as soon as possible. It is the ultimate example of investing to save. Prevention is better than cure, and it is also cheaper.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Support for Female Offenders · Hansard source

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  What family support is available for women at Foston Hall prison and young offenders institution?

• 28 Jan 2025 · Support for Female Offenders · Hansard source

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  3. What steps her Department is taking to support female offenders.

• 9 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Under the previous Government, bus services in rural areas were decimated. The number of bus journeys in the Derbyshire Dales declined by 55% between 2010 and 2023. What steps is the Minister taking to stop further cuts to bus services in rural areas like the Derbyshire Dales.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  This is an extremely welcome Bill that addresses some long-standing issues in social care and education. There are much-needed measures to ease the capacity pressures on fostering services by offering family group decision making and requiring all councils to publish a kinship offer. There are very welcome measures for hard-pressed families on school uniforms and free breakfast clubs. On behalf of care leavers, I am pleased to see the focus on Staying Close, which offers vital support in the transition from being in care to leaving care. It is very much a Maslow’s hierarchy of needs issue: unless young people have the basics in place, it is very difficult to focus on moving forward. In my limited time, I want to mention three measures that I am particularly pleased with. There are around 112,000 children currently being educated at home. Parents choose that route for a number of reasons, and I am comfortable that in most cases the decision to home-educate is taken with the child’s best interests in mind. However, there are those who choose to home-educate when difficult questions start to be asked by concerned professionals who are in regular contact with the child. As a foster carer of 25 years, I have seen the consequences of those families managing to avoid the spotlight for far too long by moving house, moving school and avoiding scrutiny. The Bill is therefore immensely positive for those particularly vulnerable children. It will mean that authorities will know where children are and they can be better monitored through the creation of the register. Children going through section 47 action can have an application to be educated at home refused by the local authority. It is worth saying, however, that parents who are home-educating children with no issues have nothing to be concerned about—I heard the Secretary of State say that just yesterday. The Bill addresses the exorbitant fees being charged by some of the large children’s placement providers. I was at the national social care conference in November 2023, when, at almost every plenary debate and presentation, someone would mention the statistic that the largest 20 providers of children’s placements collectively made £310 million in profit in 2021-22. That was all off the back of the taxpayer, all paid through our local authorities, and they felt it. The public have felt it as well, because there is simply less money to go around for everything else. Derbyshire county council’s spending on looked-after children rose from £44 million in 2015-16 to £110 million in 2023-24. That growth in spending is unsustainable and is diverting precious resources away from the children who are most in need of support and into the pockets of shareholders. I therefore welcome the fact that the Bill requires large children’s placement providers to give regular financial information to a newly created financial oversight scheme and gives the Government the power, if necessary, to cap the profits of children’s homes providers and independent fostering agencies.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  I cannot because I have to go to a Delegated Legislation Committee in a minute. I apologise. I also welcome the fact that the Bill enables the creation of new local authority schools. Under the previous Government, new schools were required to be academies or free schools, and that policy was based on ideology rather than evidence. Ending that requirement will mean that when new schools are built, they can be opened by the provider best suited to meet the needs of the local community. Ending the restriction will also ensure that when schools fail, a broader range of measures can be taken to give schools the support they need to succeed. There are a broad range of positives in the Bill. They may not realise it yet, but the future of our most vulnerable children has just become a little brighter.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q The Bill makes it illegal to sell vaping products to under-18s, and to proxy-buy vapes for children, but it does not make it illegal for under-18s to buy vapes. What is your view on that? Professor Steve Turner: I support the Bill as it stands. I think that the onus has to be on the vendor not to sell, not on criminalising the customer or the child.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q There are obviously going to be future health benefits and financial benefits but, realistically, based on what happened in New Zealand, how quickly are we going to feel the benefits, public health-wise and financially? It is going to take years for us to realise the benefits of the Bill. Professor Linda Bauld: This is quite a comprehensive piece of legislation, with lots of different pieces, so I will give a couple of examples. One area we looked at was protecting more places from second-hand smoke, and the health benefits of that to people who are vulnerable—people with asthma, respiratory conditions and cardiovascular disease—are very immediate. When the smoking ban came in in England in 2007, I did a study looking at admissions to hospital from myocardial infarction after the legislation was introduced, and in the first year we saw substantial reductions in admissions to hospital for heart attacks. So I think some things will be quite quick. In terms of the pregnancy question, if a woman is not smoking during pregnancy—some of the measures encourage that—the health benefits to the mum and the baby are immediate and long lasting. I also mentioned the modelling statistics on driving down prevalence, which is obviously going to take more time. There are then the regulations to protect young people from vaping, some of which will, I think, have quite a big effect if they prevent somebody from taking up vaping at all, and some will take a bit longer in terms of driving down the rates. It is a balance. The final thing I would say is—this is my opportunity to make this point, as you would expect—please, let us make sure that we do the research. We must support the academic community to do the research to monitor how the Bill is implemented, so that we can provide evidence that what colleagues have put forward and decided to do actually makes a difference. Other countries will then be able to look at that evidence and make up their own minds.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Do you think there is anything missing from the Bill that would be beneficial for retailers? Inga Becker-Hansen: I think the key would be guidance for retailers on implementation and how the measures will be carried out. Again, there is the idea of encouraging a consumer-facing public awareness campaign that highlights the new restrictions and the safeguards for shop and retail workers so that, when the new regulations go through, the public are aware of the changes. In any new secondary legislation, we would encourage alignment within the regulations themselves and across the devolved nations so that it is clear and consistent.

• 16 Dec 2024 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  Last year, Derbyshire Dales had the 32nd highest number of sewage dumps out of our 650 constituencies. Shockingly, the number of sewage dumps increased by 26% between 2022 and 2023, with sewage spills in Derbyshire Dales lasting a staggering 28,488 hours. That is equivalent to 3.3 years of continuous pollution. It is clear that the previous Government failed to protect our water and, in doing so, endangered the environment, local industries and human health. Much of Derbyshire Dales lies within the Peak District national park, which is renowned for its stunning scenery and landscapes. However, high levels of pollution are threatening the biodiversity of England’s national parks: as of today, only 39% of rivers and 15% of lakes within those parks remain in an ecologically healthy state. In Derbyshire Dales, that pollution is damaging some of our most scenic rivers; for example, just 6% of the surface water of the River Dove currently meets good ecological standards. Not only is that pollution a threat to biodiversity, but it is a danger to public health, as people who swim, canoe or enjoy recreational activities in these waters risk becoming ill if they are exposed to contaminated water. Recently, I witnessed this problem at first hand when I visited the River Derwent with Paddle UK. The Water (Special Measures) Bill introduces long-overdue reforms to address this crisis. First, it bans bonuses for water company executives who fail to protect the environment and consumers. It is a disgrace that, since 2020, these executives have received £41 million in bonuses, benefits and incentives while water bills have soared and pollution levels have remained unacceptably high. Secondly, the Bill strengthens the Environment Agency’s powers to hold lawbreaking water executives accountable —it is shocking that only five individuals have been prosecuted by the EA to date. I welcome the fact that the Bill is lowering the burden of proof required for the Environment Agency to impose fixed penalty notices from beyond reasonable doubt to the balance of probability. This will help to ensure that those who pollute our waters pay the price for doing so. Thirdly, the Bill introduces automatic and severe fines for water companies that commit offences such as polluting or failing to meet reporting requirements. The message the Government are sending is clear: “If you pollute, expect to pay.” Alongside this Bill, I welcome the fact that the Government have established an independent commission into the water sector, and I look forward to seeing what further recommendations the commission brings forward to help ensure that our waters become clear, safe and healthy. The people of Derbyshire Dales deserve better. They deserve rivers, lakes and waterways free from pollution. This Bill represents a critical step towards addressing these matters, and I urge all Members to support it.

• 3 Dec 2024 · Home-to-School Transport: Children with SEND · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for securing this debate. Home-to-school transport is particularly important for young people living in rural areas such as Derbyshire Dales, with the average pupil in rural areas having to travel 10 miles each way to school, and one in 10 pupils in a special school needing to travel over 23 miles each way. These distances mean that, without home-to-school transport, it is often impossible for young people in rural areas to access education. For example, my constituent, who has autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia and obsessive compulsive disorder, was denied home-to-school transport and was expected to take an almost three-hour bus journey just to get to school. The burden that the current post-16 system places on the time and finances of families is significant, as is the impact on a young person who is not in school.

• 13 Nov 2024 · Rural Broadband · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for securing the debate. Connectivity is a significant problem for my constituents. My constituency of Derbyshire Dales has the 26th lowest rate of gigabit broadband coverage in the country, and currently only 40% of residents have access to gigabit broadband. Does the hon. Member therefore welcome the fact that the recent Budget allocated £500 million to support the roll-out of gigabit broadband to ensure that we can reach full national coverage by 2030?

• 8 Oct 2024 · Farming and Food Security · Hansard source

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  Madam Deputy Speaker, it is a genuine honour to address you and the House today. It is not just a privilege to represent the Derbyshire Dales; It is a privilege just to be there, because it is truly an area of outstanding natural beauty—known to many hon. Members, I am sure, because it is a destination for millions. But its great appeal also presents a problem, particularly for younger people who are looking for housing. The little house building that takes place is more or less matched by the number of properties lost to second homes, holiday lets and Airbnbs. That results in the highest house prices in the region, which puts houses out of the reach of many young people; they end up moving to other areas to find more affordable housing. That in turn means fewer young families, fewer children, and schools with falling numbers on roll. Small businesses, including farms, pubs and restaurants, suffer as well, as they struggle to get staff due to the lack of affordable accommodation nearby. It is vital that we address this housing crisis. I pay tribute to my predecessor, Sarah Dines, who stood up for the farming community in the dales—something that I very much hope to continue. I have had the pleasure of meeting her predecessor, Lord Patrick McLoughlin, who is in the other place, and I hope to benefit from his vast experience of the constituency. The main industries in the dales are, unsurprisingly, tourism, leisure and hospitality, quarrying and agriculture. I am hopeful that the new Government can secure a veterinary agreement with the European Union to give our struggling farmers a boost. I have spent much of my first few weeks in the role speaking to farmers to try to understand what the key issues are for them. Food security in an increasingly unstable world must be a high priority. The dales have great historical significance. According to the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, in the 10th century, the northern kings met Edward the Elder at the Bakewell burh and chose him as father and lord, effectively creating the entity that we call England. Arkwright’s mill at Cromford is the birthplace of mass production, and of course it was powered by renewable energy. I recently met the Arkwright Society, which is restoring the site for the benefit of future generations and doing a great job. I also recently met Jamie Needle, who has taken on Masson mill, another of Arkwright’s mills. He is also concerned with the delivery of hydroelectric power from the Derwent—what goes around comes around. Stone from Derbyshire quarries was used in the reconstruction of Parliament in the 19th century, and the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, lived in the constituency, at the family residence at Lea Hurst. She said: “Nursing is a progressive art such that to stand still is to go backwards.” Today’s health service is barely standing still. We need to reduce the waiting lists, and to get 3 million working-age people back to work as soon as possible. I know from my time as the Mayor of Derby that so much of the good being done daily never makes the headlines; good deeds do not appear to sell newspapers or attract advertising. But in my few weeks in this role, I have already met some remarkable people and organisations who are making a difference in the constituency and further afield. Aquabox is a Cromford charity with over 80 volunteers who supply clean water solutions to people in disaster zones. Terry Eckersley at River Network provides social housing and a second chance to people in need. Bakewell Youth Theatre has been led and inspired by Sue Stones for 46 years. I appreciate that this is on a different scale, but Chatsworth House, no less, has given invaluable opportunities to children and young people in the area by having a “takeover” day at the world-famous stately home. I must mention Ben Woodroffe, our world champion toe wrestler—yes, it’s a thing. As well as being a great bloke and a champion, he has raised valuable funds for the mental health charity Mind. I hope the days of having a reasonable expectation that one’s children will do well in life are not over, but they seem at least to be on pause. A lack of housing, a reduction in opportunity due to political decision making, unrestrained social media and a climate crisis mean that my children are entering adulthood with much greater uncertainty than I did. As a foster carer of teenage children for 24 years, I know how tough things are for young people in general, but they are much harder for young people leaving care now than they were just a few years ago. Local authorities are running on fumes, so the support has diminished, and unfortunately the prejudice against care-experienced young people still persists. The new Government must work towards fixing the broken children’s social care market, address the lack of placement sufficiency, and end the profiteering from vulnerable children that is driving our local authorities to the brink of bankruptcy. I did not even bother to check with the Commons Library, but I am very sure that I am the first former singer of a progressive metal band to be elected to this House. Although my gigging days are behind me, I think, I am extremely pleased that the Labour Government will seek a deal with the EU to help our touring acts, who suffer no end of red tape when trying to get to the continent to ply their trade. The UK music industry has been an enormous success story over many decades and we need to support all of it—not just the multimillion selling acts, but the ones playing to a couple of hundred people, who will hopefully be tomorrow’s multimillion selling acts. During my campaign, I was struck by the sheer number of constituents whose No. 1 priority for an incoming Government was either the climate or nature, so I feel empowered to say that as influencers and makers of law, we have a duty to think not just in the short term and until the next election, but about those who have not even been born yet, and to leave behind a habitable planet. I was particularly proud to campaign under a banner of public service—service to our constituents and the nation. Country first, party second. We are here not for the status, but for the people who elected us. I will try to keep reminding myself of that. We must deliver on our commitments, but we must also treat the staff here, the staff working in our offices, our colleagues in local government and in the civil service and our constituents with the respect that they deserve. If we can do that, we will move this great bastion of democracy a little closer to the people it serves.