Press Release from Education Committee

Into independence, not out of care: 16 plus care options 

Publication of the Committee’s Second Report of Session 2014–14.

Ban the use of B&Bs for looked after young people and regulate all ‘other arrangements’, say MPs.

Young adults should not be forced to leave care before they turn 21, should only be provided with regulated accommodation and should not be placed in a bed and breakfast, argues the Education Committee in a report about 16 plus care options.

Launching the report, the Chair of the Education Committee, Mr Graham Stuart, said today:

“Looked after young people moving towards adulthood deserve a well-supported transition to independence rather than an abrupt push out of care.

“We launched this inquiry because we were concerned about the level of care and quality of support provided for older adolescents. We have now been persuaded of just how serious the problems are in this area and our report sets out the steps that must be taken to improve 16 plus care options”.

“For too many looked after young people, their ambition to move to semi-independent or independent living at the age of 16 or 17 results in them being placed in accommodation that is neither safe nor suitable.

“The lack of regulation and inspection for the range of accommodation used is shocking. We urge the DfE to consult on the introduction of a regulatory framework for all accommodation that falls within the catch-all term ‘other arrangements’.

“The DfE asserts that B&Bs are not considered to be suitable. Far from being merely unsuitable, this kind of housing is frequently both threatening and frightening to a young person. Their continued use shows that the current guidance is clearly inadequate.

“The DfE should consult urgently with local authorities to determine a reasonable timeframe for the outright ban on the use of B&Bs for looked after young people. In the meantime, the message is plain: B&Bs are not suitable and should only be used in extreme, emergency situations and even then, never for more than a few days”.

“While we strongly endorse the current Staying Put policy, it applies only to looked after young people living in foster care.  Yet those in residential children’s homes are often the most vulnerable and in need of extended support. We recommend that Staying Put be extended to residential children’s homes so that all looked after young people can benefit from the much needed stability this policy brings”.

The report also calls for:

·         The DfE to ensure that looked after young people approaching independence are fully and effectively informed of their rights and entitlements and that they are given a genuine choice of accommodation.

·         Clearer and stronger guidance to the effect that local authorities consider, as a first option, carers and professionals with whom a young person has an established relationships as a Personal Adviser.

·         Changes to guidance on ‘pathway planning’ specifically to include relationships with siblings.

·         Local authorities to report to the DfE on their use of B&B accommodation for looked after young people.

·         Leaving care services to be extended to the age of 25, without exception.

·         The DfE to remind all local authorities of their statutory duty to postpone any unnecessary and disruptive placement change during Key Stage 4.

·         A duty upon local authorities to ensure that a young person’s transition out of care is postponed until after the end of an academic year following their 18^th birthday.

·         The DfE to issue explicit guidance on young people’s right to stay in ‘other arrangements’ until they are 21.

·         The DfE to examine models of Staying Close and, if they are shown to improve young people’s outcomes, issue best practice guidance on such models for situations in which a young person’s preference is to Stay Close rather than Stay Put.

The report  is available here: www.parliament.uk/education-committee 

Committee Membership is as follows: 

Mr Graham Stuart (Chair), Conservative, Beverley and Holderness

Neil Carmichael, Conservative, Stroud

Alex Cunningham, Labour, Stockton North

Bill Esterson, Labour, Sefton Central

Pat Glass, Labour, North West Durham

Siobhain McDonagh, Labour, Mitcham and Morden

Ian Mearns, Labour, Gateshead

Caroline Nokes, Romsey and Southampton North

Mr Dominic Raab, Esher and Walton

Mr David Ward, Liberal Democrat, Bradford East

Craig Whittaker, Conservative, Calder Valley

Specific Committee Information:  educom@parliament.uk / 020 7219 1333

Media Information: Hannah Pearce: pearcehm@parliament.uk / 020 7219 8430 / 07917488162

Committee Website: www.parliament.uk/education-committee

Twitter: @commonsEd  

Watch committees and parliamentary debates online:  www.parliamentlive.tv 

WW1 Centenary

There are lots of events this year for the WW1 Centenary. And oddly enough, I'm involved in two of them. The first event takes place in the medical library where I work, the North Middlesex University Hospital, where I will be curating a WW1 exhibition. 

Coleridge East Ward - Notice the flowers!

During WW1, in 1915 the Infirmary, its equipment and its staff were requisitioned by the War Office. The patients were relocated to the workhouse and the Infirmary became the Edmonton Military Hospital. The operating theatre, being new, was quite adequate but a larger steriliser was installed and an X-ray Department added. Large huts were built in the grounds to house even more patients, increasing the bed complement to over 1,000. The kitchen was well-ordered to cope with preparing meals for this number, and even had a sausage-making machine to make some 900-1000 sausages a day, and a motorised potato-peeling machine (it was made by the Imperial Machine Co. of Cricklewood Lane and had cost £29, although the 'eyes' of the potatoes had to be removed by hand). In August 1917 Princess Louise visited the Hospital and officially opened a Y.M.C.A. Recreation Hut, painted in blue and fawn. During the Spanish 'flu epidemic in 1918 five nurses died of it in the course of their duties. The Hospital was decommissioned in 1920 and reorganised for civilian use as the North Middlesex Hospital. The exhibition will include photographs, letters, and medical reports.

The second event takes place at Stephens House & Gardens WW1 Centenary celebrations where some of the Greenacre/Finchley Literary Festival participants are involved, Tuesday August 5th

12-1pm A.L. Michael is running a creative writing workshop for kids, centred around WW1. Write stories, poems and letters inspired by life at that time, and the perspectives of those at home and on the front lines. An interactive and educational creative workshop. 

1.30-3pm Rosie Canning (ME!) is running a creative writing workshop using World War One letters, photos and artefacts as inspiration. Rosie will spark your creativity and imagination, using creative writing exercises to take you back in time to WW1 from the safety of the bunker. 

3-4pm Come and have afternoon tea in the lovely drawing room at Stephens House and listen to Sarah Harrison read from her bestselling WW1 novel, The Flowers of the Field and hear how she got the idea to write the book and all about the WW1 research.

Oddly enough, the purpose of this week is for Stephens House & Gardens to provide a focus to remember those that served and the many that suffered especially those treated within Avenue House when it was seconded as a hospital. 

Finchley Literary Festival: Day 5 and 6

Diary of a festival organiser: Day 5

The afternoon began with a real treat. The Reader Organisation had organised two sessions to take place at North Finchley Library organised by Ruth Cohen and Paul Higgins.

Ruth and Paul are old friends of mine – Ruth because she is a Greenacre Writer member in the Short Story group and Paul because I met him when I trained as a Shared Reading Facilitator back in Autumn 2011. For this event, I had decided I would be a participant. The session began with us introducing ourselves and Paul told us a little bit about The Reader Organisation which you can find out about here.

Paul then began reading a short story, it was about two people that meet in an unfamiliar airport and how through questions and answers they get to know each other and maybe even fall in love a little. We read a little, spoke a little and laughed a lot. Then we shared a poem, which was very moving all about another world when people would have time to stop and stare.

It was such a lovely respite for me as I had been rushing around all week, in fact weeks with the organisation of the festival and I left the library feeling totally refreshed.

Meanwhile, Mike was attending Maggie Butt’s ‘How to get your poetry published’, at East Finchley Library which he said was an eye opener and he even read his poem, Death of a Seaside, a lovely piece about a run down hotel by the sea.

After a quick rest, it was all hands to the deck again for Maggie Butt’s ‘Ally Pally Prison Camp’ presentation and Mick Crick's 'Private John Parr' talk.

Did you know Ally Pally was once a prison camp? Maggie has written a book, you can find out more here

Day 6

I have to confess I missed Paul Baker’s literary walk, it just was not possible to attend every single event. You can find out more about Paul’s walks here

As Paul’s walk was coming to an end, we were setting up a small cave for Finchley’s Dragon’s Pen. Church End Library who have provided such excellent support for the festival, gave us a room which we prepared for Gillian Stern, Cari Rosen and Mary Musker. It was quite an odd experience for me because I had put myself down for a slot to present my writing and at the same time, I was meeting and greeting and introducing other victim writers for the lovely beasts. It was an interesting experience, pitching my writing, selling myself, and one that I enjoyed once I got used the dragons’ fiery breath.

As the event finished, the very professional Allen Ashley was up the High Road in North Finchley library preparing for his creative writing family workshop which was also well attended.

Allen then did a quick turnaround and headed toward Friern Barnet Community Library where he was hosting the ‘Spoken Word’ showcase.

As well as local writers and poets, we were joined by Theresa Villiers MP, who came especially to support the Finchley Literary Festival. Theresa used to support the Greenacre Bicycle Rally, so it was very nice to see her and you can find out here whether she enjoyed the evening.

The highlight of the evening for me was Allen's poem, 'The Mill Hill Boys', all about what it is like to come from Finchley and be in a band with the Mill Hill Boys. I hope to hear it one day set to music.

Finchley Literary Festival: Day 3 and 4

Diary of a Festival organiser: Day 3

I had a lay in this morning but not for long as the phone was soon ringing with enquiries:
'Do I have to book to attend the 'Meet the Authors', event at Waterstones?
or
'Is 'How to Kill Your Darlings', a workshop or a talk?'
and many more.

On arriving at Waterstones, a laid-back Miriam Halahmy and Lindsay were blowing up balloons. I marvelled at both her and Lil Chase's calm exterior thinking back to the anthology launch when I'd been rushing around. It seemed these published, stalwart authors had something to teach me. 'It's not like a reading,' said Gina Blaxill, 'then I would be nervous. We're here and if they come, they come, and if they don't, well, it's still been fun!'

I grabbed a handful of Finchley Literary Festival leaflets and stood outside encouraging passer-by children and parents to come and 'Meet the Authors'.

Soon it was time for Lindsay and I to say farewell and jump on a bus to Finchley Central Library, we are after all Greenacre Project peeps and believers in sustainability and less car use. We arrived just in time for Bettina von Cossel's excellent 'How to Kill Your Darlings' Murder, Mystery, talk. To be a really good murderer, on paper only, one has to attend crime workshops to meet pathologists and detectives, or wear really high heels so one can trip at the top of the escalator and accidentally push our darling down the stairs. Bettina, a rather leggy brunette, donned sparkly high-heels and showed us just how to do it, using her son as a willing victim. She also told us how she once thought of using The Queen as a character in one of her novels and wrote for permission, the response from the palace included, 'Her majesty was pleased to be made aware of your project'.

As you can see the equipment worked!

I didn't rush home for a break after the murder workshop as it was straight to the library in North Finchley for the next event, 'A Way Forward through Publishing'. Carol Sampson and I were setting up the equipment which was a hoot because I have a memory that very rarely works and couldn't remember which plug went where or which buttons to press. Still with a bit of help from Carol, we managed fine and felt quite chuffed, especially as it was a full house. Self-publishing is a very popular subject. Writers are fed up of waiting for a contract, and nowadays there are so many options from e-publishing, to On-Demand printing to a full package that includes advertising and a several thousand print run.

Day 4 - Highlights

Thankfully, Murni and Carol went to A.L. Michael's 'Write Here, Write Now', workshop held at Friern Barnet Community Library, so I really did get a lie in! The workshop was well attended and you can read a bit more about it from Murni here.

Lucy, our lovely photographer picked me up after lunch and we went to Mike's house to pick up equipment, but when we got to the library it seemed we had forgotten the projector! Mike to the rescue, and just as well because he knows exactly how to set up the library for a film show having set up many for his secret green spaces slide shows. There is a knack and unfortunately being equipment-setting-up-illiterate, I do not have it. Panic over, Theresa Musgrove, alias Mrs Angry, infamous Bloggadeer, arrived from behind the glass screen where she usually sits presiding over the Borough of Barnet keeping an eye on the naughty antics of councillors and privateers, looking very bright and cheerful.

Although she writes about local politics, she finds it increasingly difficult to prevent irrelevant references to local history seeping into her work: this talk explored one of those themes, the associations of Charles Dickens with many locations in the borough, including some newly discovered material which probably raises more questions than it answers ... the story of a bootmaker, a mortgage, the Sultan of Hendon, bodysnatching - and a tale of two workhouses' ... It was fascinating and the library was absolutely chock-a-block!

Greenacre Writers Anthology Launch

Diary of a festival organiser: Day 2 - Sunday 25th May 2014

Sal reading her winning story 'Flapjack'

Setting up Cafe Buzz for the anthology launch was relatively easy because we'd left most of the equipment the night before after the Poetry Palooza. By the time I arrived, Sal Page, the Greenacre Writers Short Story Competition winner was already there. I know I'm not the only one that has that 'weird' double-take when you meet somebody in 'real life' that you have been either communicating with via Twitter or Facebook or both. You get to know each other via words and usually one photo that is flat and static. So meeting Sal was strange and familiar all at the same time. I was so pleased she had travelled all the way from Morecombe via Coventry to be with us. Firstly because Sal is a very talented writer, with a wicked sense of humour, and secondly because it is so nice to have the competition winners to present their newly published anthology in person. Unfortunately for poor Sal, she had to put up with a bit of behind the scenes usual Greenacre confusion, still at least we didn't get her to shift a grand piano!

Greenacre Writers reading from the anthology Vol 3

Our other guest reader was Andy Byrne, who was a Greenacre Writer Short Story 2013 Competition runner-up with his very clever story, 'Authors in Residence', literary characters come to life in this story!

Our event coordinator was getting a bit impatient with readers as they stood behind the microphone either too near or too far and at one point he got up and gave us a demonstration of how to use it. I thought everybody coped really well with the 'moving' microphone and it was another Greenacre Writers success. 

Cafe Buzz wouldn't be the buzzy place it is without Helen Michael and her staff who served us all afternoon with delicious home-made lunches, snacks and scrummy cakes. Chocolate Cake, Earl Grey Bluestar and Greenacre Writers Anthology, Volume 3 - what more could anybody wish for?

Usually it is the organisers that organise surprises but we were caught unawares when presented with a beautifully arranged basket of flowers. For a moment I thought it was the end of the festival, and then Lindsay reminded me, only another 18 events to go!