One of the few interesting questions from a Tory backbencher at PMQs this week was one from Michelle Donelan about children in care, particularly residential care. It may well have been planted, as it allowed the Prime Minister to announce a review of residential care, to coincide with Care Leavers Week. Today, as part of that week, the Public Accounts Committee found ‘systematic weaknesses’ in the support for care leavers, arguing that ‘central and local government must both take more responsibility for improving outcomes.
One of the PAC’s recommendations was that children leaving care need better support from personal advisers, as currently many of those young people receive ‘too patchy’ a service as they adjust to independent living. It means that they don’t get the same advice and help as their peers who live with their birth parents and who are able to get a parent round to help with their broken washing machine, or teach them to manage bills and landlords.
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