Tulip Siddiq – 2020 Comments on Crisis in Foster Care

Below is the text of the comments made by Tulip Siddiq, the Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years, on 23 June 2020.

This pandemic has taken a terrible toll on vulnerable children, who have been far more exposed to domestic abuse, online grooming, and other threats in recent months. The result is that many more children now need foster care and other support services, which have been cut to the bone in the last decade.

Labour has been warning for months that there will be a huge rise in demand for children’s services. The scale of this crisis is now starting to come to light, and it’s not clear how the Government plans to deal with it.

The Government must come forward with a proper plan to ensure that vulnerable children and those moving into the care system can access the support they need. Ministers must also scrap the unnecessary and dangerous regulations that have weakened safeguards for children entering foster care placements.