Deputy Lester Queripel has urged the States to apologise to those children who he says the island and its government has failed.
He was the only States Member to speak in defence of the island’s children during a debate on a review of Guernsey’s Children’s Law and its Outcomes.
The Marshall Report of 2015 made 21 recommendations for how to improve a number of children’s laws and services. Many of its proposals have still not been acted on.
Deputy Lester Queripel recently told Express that “it concerns me greatly, that after 10 years there are still some recommendations that haven’t been progressed”.
“…our children are our future: they have their whole lives ahead of them and they need to know, as we all need to know, they are safe and secure and supported at all times. Especially in times of crisis,” he said.
On Thursday, the President of Health and Social Care asked States members to back changes to the Children’s Law which concerned ‘Supervision Orders’ and ‘Community Parenting Orders’.
Some of the changes included some minor alterations to wording to prevent future tweaks needing States approval.
After Deputy Al Brouard had presented the policy changes to the States, Deputy Queripel rose to his feet to claim the current States – and the two previous governments – owe the children of Guernsey an apology for not implementing some of the Marshall Report recommendations much sooner.
“The cruel irony here is that progress pursuing recommendations that sought to eliminate delays has been delayed. In those nine quarter years, our children and their families have been forced to endure, because they had no say whatsoever in the matter, forced to endure completely unnecessary trauma and stress that has been caused by those delays. I know that for a fact because I’ve worked with many of those families in that time in an attempt to accelerate proceedings and put an end to that unnecessary trauma and stress.
“What we’re talking about here is, in the worst case scenario, children being taken away from their parents because of accusations of physical and sexual abuse, until such a time as the parents are either found to be guilty or innocent.
“If they are proven to be innocent, then they get their children back, that could take months, and sometimes takes years, and that’s time lost to the family that can’t be given back to those children or their parents, and it leaves mental scars that last for the rest of their lives.”
Deputy Queripel said people who have been affected by the delays in the implementation of the recommendations of the Marshall Report all deserve apologies.
“Our children and their families not only deserve much better than this, but they need much better than this in order to be free of the delays that are ripping families apart here in the island and in Alderney.
“I think every member of this assembly, in fact, every member of the previous two assemblies, owes our children and their families an apology for failing to progress the Marshall recommendations as a priority. Even though that apology won’t give time back to children and their families that have been taken from them, I think we still need to make it. It’s the very least we can do. Apologies cost nothing, yet they mean so much.
“Even though I’ve done my absolute utmost to address the failings and delays in the system that were identified by Professor Marshall, I’m only too willing to hold my hands up and say, I’m sincerely and genuinely sorry the States of Guernsey haven’t been anything like as reactive or as proactive as we should have been these past nine and quarter years.
“Protecting and supporting our children and their families in their time of need should have been treated as a priority, and it’s simply not acceptable that they weren’t.”
Deputy Brouard also offered an apology and sought to explain why there has been a delay in acting on the recommendations of the Marshall Report.
“I’m very sorry that there’s been any delay in either bringing it to the States, or for those people involved, but there are, there are quite a few mitigating circumstances on the journey, as Deputy Queripel will full understand.
“We had COVID that took a lot of resources away, especially from the healthcare area.
“It has been a priority for our team, but it’s a very complex system,” he said.
Deputy Brouard also acknowledged that whatever work the current HSC committee has done on the recommendations of the Marshall Report during this term in office will be carried forward by others.
“This is not a one fix forever,” he said. “Things will evolve. Courts will evolve. Families will evolve. There will be different issues coming forward in the years to come. So this is our bit to try and get it as best as we can, but that will evolve. Practices will change.”
The changes to the Review of the Children’s Law and its Outcomes was approved by all States members present during the vote.
No other members could speak during the debate though, as Deputy Sam Haskins called for the guillotine motion.
The guillotine was carried and debate was stifled despite others wanting to speak.
21 deputies voted in favour of the guillotine while 14 wanted the debate to continue. The voting record can be seen HERE.