We need a better deal for young people in care and those leaving it.

Today I invited Leo and Shelby, who both grew up in care in Plymouth, to meet with the DWP Secretary, Mel Stride MP. I’m so proud of them for travelling to Westminster and presenting their case so well.

We’re asking the Government to introduce a guarantor scheme for care leavers. Around 10,000 young people leave care each year and must start living independently when they are just 18 or even younger. It can be an extremely stressful and lonely time as lots of landlords refuse to rent to them because they don’t have a family member to act as a rent guarantor.

The meeting was really productive and Mel Stride pledged to look at this idea further. There’s a lot more work to do to convince Ministers, but this simple and relatively cheap idea would make such a huge difference and I won’t give up until we win for every care leaver in the country.

Thank you to Leo, Shelby, Barnardo’s and many other care leavers across Plymouth for their hard work on this campaign.

Leo and Shelby also met Labour’s Shadow Minister for Education and Young People, Helen Hayes MP, today in Parliament to discuss the hurdles they faced when leaving care.