About the APPG

The Who Cares? Trust helped set up the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Looked After Children and Care Leavers (APPG) in 1998 and has acted as Secretariat for the group since then.

The meetings are attended by members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, representatives of voluntary organisations, childcare professionals and people who are currently in care or have past personal experience of the care system.

Fomer MP Hilton Dawson (now Chief Executive of the British Association of Social Workers) was the founder and first chair of the group, followed by David Kidney MP who chaired the group for four years, with Helen Southworth MP taking over in June 2009 when David Kidney became a government minister.  The group's current Chair is Edward Timpson MP, who took over in July 2010.

Lord Listowel has been Vice Chair of the group since 2006, prior to which he was Treasurer.   

Lisa Nandy MP and Jessica Lee MP were elected as Co-Vice Chair and Secretary/Treasurer, respectively, in November 2010.

What's the Group's purpose?

The group exists to: 

• Ensure that the voices of young people with experience of public care are heard by Government.
• Ensure that legislation addresses the particular needs of children and young people in and leaving care and to debate key policy and practice issues.
• Ensure liaison at parliamentary level with organisations working with children and young people in and leaving care.
• Highlight good practice in working with children and young people in and leaving care.
• Discuss and, where appropriate, pursue topical issues which arise in relation to children and young people in and leaving care.
• Be a powerful voice on behalf of children and young people in and leaving care.

What is discussed at the meetings?

The meetings usually involve one or two presentations on a topic followed by open debate. 

Past speakers have included:

• John Hutton MP, when Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health;
• Jacqui Smith MP, when Minister of State for Health;
• Charles Clarke MP, when Minister for School Standards;
• Margaret Hodge MP, when Minister for Children and Families;
• Beverley Hughes MP, when Minister for Children, Young People and Families;
• Roger Morgan, Children's Rights Director;
• Barry Sheerman MP, Chair of the DCSF select committee;
• Speakers from Voice, The Children's Legal Centre and A National Voice;
• John Diamond, CEO, Mulberry Bush School;
• Mike Lindsay, Head of Advice at the Office of the Children's Rights Director;
• Professor Eileen Munro, London School of Economics;
• Tim Loughton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Children and Families
• and many young people in and from care.

News

• Is more support needed for children who run away or go missing from care? - 26-Mar-2012
• Government policies on access to further and higher education abandon care leavers to the whims of localism, says report - 16-Mar-2012
• The Trust calls for Government to look wider than adoption - 14-Mar-2012

The Who Cares? Trust is a registered charity (No. 1010518). A Company limited by guarantee. Registered in London (No. 2700693). VAT Reg. No. 577853091
Charity web design by Fat Beehive - Main photo by epidemya