Member

As noble Lords will be aware, Clause 21 on corporate parenting applies to England only. Amendment 96 would provide a mechanism to allow all parts of the United Kingdom to move in the same direction, while fully respecting devolved powers. It would place in the Bill an option for each nation to consider care-experienced people within equality impact assessments. It would not impose a single approach or override devolved competence. Each devolved Administration would retain the ability to decide whether and how to give effect to this provision, including through legislative consent Motions or by introducing equivalent provisions within their own jurisdiction. In that sense, this amendment would create alignment rather than compulsion, providing shared legislative frameworks within which each nation can act when it judges that the time is right. We have heard this evening about the disadvantages of care-experienced young people—the poor life chances and lives cut short too early. Amendment 96 seeks to ensure that these realities are considered at the point where policy is developed, not only after harm has occurred.