Oona King

16 May 2013

Baroness King of Bow: My Lords, it has been a great pleasure to serve on this committee. One of the things I liked most about it and this subject is that we were more or less able to approach it from a non-party-political angle. No one in this House would not want to see Britain treat its most vulnerable children in a fairer manner. I say that almost as a disclaimer at the beginning before I have a little bit of a go at some of the Government’s approaches to this issue.

Clearly, I welcome the Government’s desire to improve life chances for children in the care system but you have to look at who these children are. I was shocked and must confess my ignorance because I did not realise that when we talk about children in care today in Britain some 56% of them are over the age of 10 and will never realistically be adopted.

Written by Roz Lewis, published in 
The Guardian 

Oona talks about her parents, growing up as the only mixed-race child in her class, and being an adoptive parent

I was born in Sheffield. My father, Preston King, is African American; my mother, Hazel, is a Jewish Geordie. I have a brother, Slater, who is two years younger than me. Slater and I hated each other and we fought like cats and dogs when we were smaller. Now I love him to bits.

Hot off the press: here's the report on Adoption that myself and other members of the House of Lords have worked on for many months.

We argue that adoptive parents should receive more support to help them care for vulnerable children. This is because children adopted from care have often experienced neglect and abuse and therefore may have a range of complex needs. There should be a legal obligation on Local Authorities and others to provide post-adoption support to children and adopters, where that support would previously have been paid for by the state: it just isn't fair to expect adoptive parents to pick up the financial price tag (on top of the emotional challenges) from giving a loving home to Britain's most vulnerable children. 

As she welcomes a third baby, Oona King talks to Rosamund Urwin about motherhood, the struggles of adoption and why she’ll be voting for her old opponent in the mayoral election

Oona King’s local pub in Mile End could scarcely have more appropriate reading material on its loo doors: a list of memorable lines and gaffes from Boris and Ken. Among them is Johnson’s bizarre quip “Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts”, and the quote that has come back to haunt Livingstone: “These rich b******s just don’t get it. No one should be allowed to vote in a British election, let alone sit in Parliament, unless they pay their full share of tax.”

Baroness King of Bow: I welcome the Government's efforts to improve the life chances of our most vulnerable children, but does the Minister share my concern that adoption of children with more complex needs-often older children, those who have suffered abuse or neglect-is often delayed because the Government will not provide funding for post-adoption services? Instead, we say to adopters, "You pick up the pieces. You look after a difficult child no one else will take and you pay for their specialist medical health requirements". Will the Government and the Minister review that funding policy so that we give our most vulnerable children the chance of a loving home?

Hansard Link: Adoption (2 contributions)