General Debate on the Department for Work and Pensions support for care leavers

The Debate Pack contains background information on support for care leavers, as well as relevant parliamentary material and press articles, in addition to some suggested further reading which Member’s may find useful when preparing for this debate.

When making the case for a debate on this subject, Kelly Tolhurst MP said:

The application is for a general debate in Westminster Hall around care leavers and the role with the DWP. This is predominantly because Government will shortly be publishing advice to local authorities around the care offer that was part of the Children and Social Work Act 2017. It is quite important that we offer a challenge around some of the things that will be in that guidance, predominantly around accommodation costs for care leavers, also how universal credit will affect the youngsters. It is one of those debates that we had a little bit when we spoke about Act last year, but I believe there is far more to be done in this area and it would be a good opportunity to challenge the Minister on how meaningful this local offer will be for our looked-after children. It has cross-party support and there are many who have expressed an interest in wanting to take part.