Cambridgeshire County Council reaffirms ‘commitment to children in care’ after Wisbech councillor says some are ‘evil’

Cambridgeshire County Council has reaffirmed its “commitment to children in care” after a councillor described some of them as “evil”.

The authority said it acts as a “parent” to looked-after children and care leavers and supports their wellbeing to help them “thrive”.

It added that this is a responsibility that is “equally shared by all county councillors and council staff”.

The statement follows comments made by Cllr Andy Osborn (Reform UK) who said at a council meeting on Tuesday that some children in care are “not just naughty children, they can be downright evil”.

Cllr Osborn, who was elected county councillor for Wisbech’s Roman Bank and Peckover ward in May, said he had heard of cases where children were “smashing cars up, running away from home, and are on drugs”.

Cllr Osborn said: “It is not just a case of somebody being a bad boy or a bad girl, it is a case of they have learnt from their bad parents not to react correctly.”

He faced swift pushback at the meeting from other councillors and the executive director over his comments.

They highlighted that children who are taken into care have experienced trauma, which could lead to challenging behaviours.

Concerns about the comments have also since been shared more widely, with some people with care experience saying that the comments increase negative attitudes towards people who have been in care.

A councillor from Plymouth City Council has also publicly published a letter they have sent to Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, highlighting the situation and expressing their “deep concern and dismay” at what was said.

The county council has now issued a statement in which it said it “reaffirms its commitment to children in care and people with care experience”.

Cllr Edna Murphy (Liberal Democrat), chair of the children and young people committee at the county council, said: “Care-experienced people often face significant barriers that impact them throughout their lives, and despite the resilience of many care-experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account.

“We must make sure that all children and young people are given opportunities to thrive.

“As part of our legal responsibilities, we have a responsibility to act as corporate parents for all the children who are in our care as a council.

“We take this role extremely seriously; these children are our children, and, like any parent, we want to ensure they get the best services and support to enable them to thrive.

“However, our commitment goes beyond our statutory duties.

“We will support all the children and young people in our care to be healthy and safe, feel cared about, valued and respected as individuals and will help them prepare well for adulthood, enabling them to achieve their goals.”

Martin Purbrick, executive director for children, education and families also said: “Any child in care is a child that will have experienced early childhood trauma, this can really change the way that they are able to manage their own emotions.

“Often, they will put themselves at risk rather than other people. We need to make sure the children we are responsible for get good quality, consistent care which enables them to become adults who can contribute to society and achieve their ambitions.

“We offer support to all those families who need it, with the aim of keeping as many children at home as possible.

“Our low rate of children in care compared to many other areas really demonstrates the success of our services in supporting families to make changes and reduce the number of children who need to come into care.”