Children and Families Act 2014: Is it fit for purpose? Lords to quiz Government Officials in first evidence session

On Monday 14 March the House of Lords Select Committee on the Children and Families Act 2014 will hold the first public evidence session of its inquiry examining whether the Children and Families Act 2014 is fit for purpose and achieved its aim of improving the lives of children and families, particularly the most vulnerable children and young people in society.

The Committee will hear from UK government officials from the Department for Education, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to understand the Government’s assessment of the Act’s success, and an update on relevant reviews and other work, ahead of hearing from ministers in the September.

The public evidence session will take place at 3.15pm (GMT) on Monday 14 March 2022 and can be viewed live on parliamentlive.tv. 

The committee will hear from:

3:15pm

• Sophie Langdale, Director of Children’s Social Care Strategy and Practice, Department for Education
• Andre Imich, SEN and Disability Professional Adviser, Department for Education
• Neal Barcoe, Deputy Director for Family Justice Policy, Ministry of Justice
• Mike Warren, Director, Labour Markets, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Likely question topics include:

• Follow-up work to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of the Act
• Whether the Act has enabled faster, more secure and stable adoptions which are in the best interests of the child 
• Whether reforms have made the family justice system faster, simpler and less adversarial
• The SEND review
• The Government’s work on flexible working and shared parental leave