Former Children’s Minister Sarah Teather MP is to lead a cross-party inquiry into whether the current asylum support system provided by the Home Office for those seeking protection in the UK meets the needs of children and families. So says a press release issued by The Children’s Society on Tuesday.

The inquiry is calling for people to submit evidence and is looking to “build a clearer picture of whether the support is adequate to protect these children and young people’s welfare, in line with the government’s obligations”.

Sarah says;

“I am concerned that currently many thousands of children and young people grow up in the asylum system and we know that severe poverty can have a detrimental effect on health, education and development. The panel will look at the asylum support system through the eyes of children and hear about their experiences.”

I hadn’t seen anyone else pick up on this and I thought it was worthy of note.

Looking back over the recent posts on this blog I’ve realised I hadn’t written about my disappointment with the recent government reshuffle. It seems a bit late to go into details now – let’s just say I was deeply unimpressed. One of the aspects I was least happy with was Sarah’s removal from the Department for Education, seemingly to make way for the return of David Laws. My impression was that she had been a highly effective, if low-profile, minister and had won respect from the sector. Something that seems to be confirmed by this news.

I am pleased by this. Ministerial office is only one path to influence and there are ways to get things done from the backbenches. This looks like a good fit for Sarah and I know that she isn’t likely to pull her punches if the inquiry decides it needs to criticise the Government.