Debate News Open letter to the Home Secretary Dear Ms Rudd As leaders of charities and voluntary groups large and small, serving children, families and communities right across the country, we are writing to express our deep dismay at the suspension of the ‘Dubs Scheme’ for child refugees, and to press upon you our hope that this decision could still be reversed and the programme resumed. MPs of all parties demonstrated that they share our sense of duty and compassion for refugee children when they voted on the Dubs amendment last year. Parliament made the right choice, to do the right thing, and across the communities and nations of the UK many people have been volunteering to help with delivering on that promise. Many charities have worked closely with councils, commissioners and civil servants to prepare for their arrival and care. We believe that what is really at issue in the scheme’s suspension is not the 'pull factor' you argue it exerts on refugee children but the failure of central government to provide councils who are close to breaking point with adequate resources to look after all children in need of our care and protection – whether those children are at risk here in Britain or from beyond our shores. Many councils, far from being unwilling to help, have publicly committed to take in more children. It is therefore essential that the government reviews its steep cuts to local authority budgets and, instead of abandoning councils to increase taxes on already-struggling families, provides services for all vulnerable children with the central investment they so urgently need. Among our number are many organisations who have stepped up to serve children, at home and abroad, during great wars and economic depressions throughout our nation’s history – from organising child evacuations to the Kindertransport. All of us are committed to show the same compassion today for every child in need of safety, sanctuary and kindness. We ask that you reverse the decision to cap the number of children helped through the Dubs Scheme at 350 and that you respect the spirit and the letter of the amendment Parliament approved by continuing to offer sanctuary to unaccompanied refugee children in Europe as long as these children need our help. We call on the government to honour Parliament’s commitment last year to these children. We work with children every day. We know that when adults break their promises to them, children learn to distrust the words we say. When a nation breaks a promise to care for children, to keep them safe, and instead leaves them at risk and in danger simply to 'send a message' to others, it is an unforgivable betrayal. We will be ready to meet and to work with you, and to bring all our passion and pragmatism to avoid that outcome. Yours sincerely, Kathy Evans CEO Children England Debbie Ariyo CEO AFRUCA Norman Goodwin CEO Adoption Matters Carolyne Willow Director Article 39 Javed Khan CEO Barnardo’s Natasha Finlayson CEO Become Ruth Allen CEO British Association of Social Workers Brian Douieb Co-Chair British Association of Social Workers London Robert Templeton Co-Chair Amanda Forshaw CEO Caritas Care Pauline Leeson CBE CEO Children in Northern Ireland Jackie Brock CEO Children in Scotland Jeremy Cripps CEO Children North East Martin Houghton-Brown CEO Depaul UK Brendan O’Keefe Managing Director Epic CiC David Holmes CEO Family Action Cathy Ashley CEO Family Rights Group Maggie Jones CEO Foundation UK Mark Davis CEO Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency Keith White CEO Mill Grove Ann Haigh Chair NAGALRO Anna Feuchtwang CEO National Children's Bureau Sharon Long Strategic Director Partnership for Young London Ruth Ibegbuna CEO RECLAIM Professor Neena Modi President Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Dr Geoff Debelle Officer for Child Protection Delma Hughes Founding Director Siblings Together Ross Hendry CEO Spurgeons Lee Dema Founder St Matthew’s Project Andy Elvin CEO TACT Mark Lee CEO Together Trust Manage Cookie Preferences