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APPG’s Activities and Latest News 2021
December 2021
The APPG made a submission to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England ‘Call for Ideas’.
The Group called for a new National Strategy for Kinship Care to ensure:
- Family is explored as the first point of call when concerns about a child’s ability to safely remain at home first emerge.
- Kinship carers can seek out the support they need to enable the children to thrive in their care, and that kinship care children are able to access a minimum level of support based on their needs and not their postcode or legal status.
October 2021
The APPG celebrated Kinship Care Week (October 4th to 10th) with parliamentarians from across the political spectrum calling for better support and recognition for kinship carers.
Chair, Andrew Gwynne MP, wrote for The Mirror about his experience of being a kinship carer to his grandson, Lyle. Read the article here.
Andrew highlighted the challenges many kinship carers face in navigating the complexity of the family justice system without support and called for an expansion of legal aid for kinship carers. With over half of kinship carers having to give up work or reduce their hours as a result of becoming kinship carers, Andrew also pressed the case for paid kinship care employment leave.
September 2021
Following the government’s ministerial reshuffle, the Group’s officers wrote to the new team at the Department for Education, inviting them to meet with the APPG.
Secretary of State, Nadhim Zahawi MP, was Children’s Minister at the time of the launch of the Parliamentary Taskforce on Kinship Care. He pledged to be the ‘voice of kinship care in government’ and the Group look forward to supporting him to be that voice as Secretary of State and particularly in relation to the imminent Spending Review. The letter was copied to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Read the letter here.
The Group also wrote to the new Minister of State for Children and Families, Will Quince MP, asking him to put kinship care on his initial list of priorities. Read the letter here.
July 2021
New funding has been announced by the Department for Education for schemes to provide advice and support for kinship carers. It includes £1 million to increase the number of local kinship carers support groups and additional funding for Family Rights Group’s free specialist legal and practice advice line. The APPG welcomed the announcement and called on the Government to bring forward a Kinship Care Strategy. Read more.
June 2021
The APPG held a meeting with Josh MacAlister, Chair of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England, to discuss the Review’s initial work and how it proposes to support kinship care. Read about the meeting here.
May 2021
- The APPG welcomes recognition of kinship carers in new School Admissions Code. View statement here.
- The APPG held a session on educational support for children in kinship care, with Sir Alan Wood (Adviser to Sir Kevan Collins, then Education Recovery Commissioner) and Julie Bunn (Vice Chair of the Association of Virtual School Heads). Read about the meeting here.
April 2021
- The APPG’s officers have written to Children’s Minister, Vicky Ford, to invite her to meet with the group. Read the letter here.
- The independent review of children’s social care is an important opportunity to consider system wide reform of children’s social care. The APPG has written to the Chair of the Care Review, Josh MacAlister, to ask him to consider the findings of the Parliamentary Taskforce on Kinship Care and to invite Josh to meet with the group. Read the letter here.
- Many children in kinship care have additional educational needs and disabilities but too often miss out on important educational support because they do not have the correct legal status or have not spent time in the care system. The APPG has written to the Education Recovery Commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins, to urge him to consider children in kinship care and to ensure they do not lose out further as a result of lost learning during the Coronavirus pandemic. Read the letter here.
8th March 2021
The APPG held its inaugural Annual General Meeting on Monday 8th March via Zoom. The group welcomed guest speakers: Enza Smith (Kinship Carers UK) and her grandson Bradley, Clare Walsh and Elaine to share their experience of kinship care. Read more about the meeting here.
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