Welsh council official says it’s ‘not okay’ for children in care to have to move personal items in bin bags

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

A Welsh council official said it is “categorically not okay” for children in care to carry personal items in bin bags when moving home, after a report said this was taking place in parts of the country.

Cardiff Council operational manager for assessment and care planning, Sarah Skuse, was asked at a scrutiny committee meeting about a recent BBC report that said some children and young care-leavers in Wales had been made to move some of their personal belongings in black bin bags, causing additional trauma to their experience in the care system.

A member of the children and young people scrutiny committee, Cllr Sian-Elin Melbourne, asked Ms Skuse whether Cardiff was one of the local authorities now signed up to National Youth Advocacy Service’s (NYAS) campaign to end this practice.

Holdall

Ms Skuse said: “Every young person has access to a bag, a holdall or something other than a black bag to move their belongings in.

“It is absolutely categorically not okay for children to move with their belongings in a bin bag.”

The council officer went on to say that there are collections of holdalls in council offices for social workers to access if a child is moving and doesn’t have anything to put their belongings in.

Ms Skuse added: “[It is] absolutely something we don’t accept is okay and we have got processes in place to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

Cardiff Council was the 50th local authority in England and Wales to sign up to NYAS’ campaign this year. It is among the nine out of 22 Welsh councils that have signed up to it.

The campaign, My Things Matter, was launched in 2022 and asks local authorities across England and Wales to make sure children and young people are treated with respect and dignity when they move home in care.

Cardiff Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, Cllr Ash Lister, confirmed that the council was committed to the campaign.

A comment from the cabinet member on NYAS’s website states: “Ensuring that all children in care feel self-worth and are respected is priority.

“Moving home can be an anxious and stressful time for anyone, but particularly for young people who may have already experienced turbulence and upset during their lives.

“We are committed to making this a smooth and dignified transition where young people feel supported, in line with Cardiff’s ambition of becoming a UNICEF UK Child Friendly City.

“Our children and young people deserve the very best and that’s why we’re so proud to sign NYAS’ ‘My Things Matter’ pledge and hope more Local Authorities will join us.”