asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord West of Spithead on 19 March (WA 67–8) and in the light of the fact that they have not provided legal guardians for children presumed to have been trafficked, whether they will arrange mentors for such children, taking into account cultural and language affinities. [HL2871]

The Children and Young Person's Bill, currently before Parliament, contains provisions to extend and strengthen the authority of the role of the independent reviewing officer (IRO), to ensure that the voices of all looked-after children are taken into account by the local authority responsible for planning the care for each looked-after child.

In addition to our proposals for developing the IRO role, the current statutory framework already requires local authorities to ensure that looked-after children are able to have access to independent advocates. Access to advocates should not just be confined to complaints procedures; children should be provided with support from an advocate whenever they wish to make representations about the services they receive.

Furthermore the Bill proposes that wherever it is in the child's interests, each looked-after child should be offered the support of an independent “visitor” who will befriend and advise the child.

The Government believe these arrangements to be satisfactory and do not therefore believe that a new requirement on local authorities to allocate dedicated mentors is necessary, in order to safeguard and promote the welfare of looked-after children who may have been trafficked.