Sadly I could only make the afternoon session of this valuable conference on grandparents. Many grandparents look after their grandchildren while their sons or daughters are out at work. My mother did all my childcare as I could not afford to work as a school inspector and pay for childcare particularly as I had to leave the house very early in the morning or stay away for nights as I joined inspection teams around the country. The staggering statistics are that grandparents undertake childcare worth £3886 million a year and 6 in 10 working parents use grandparents to look after their children. But these are the good statistics.

The sad statistics are the numbers of grandparents are those who no longer have contact with their grandchildren because of divorce or distance. Some grandparents have to go to court to get access to grandchildren, others go to court to become wards for their grandchildren because their parents are unable to look after them often because of misuse of drugs. When I was working on the Social Workers Commission we heard from representatives of grandparents who wanted to look after their grandchildren rather than foster carers. Many of them cannot afford to look after their grandchildren and we need to ensure that they get the same allowances as foster carers receive if they are performing the same duties. It is much better to keep children within the family groups where possible.

The Grandparent’s Association is very good support group and you can find them at www.grandparents-association.org.uk or ring them on their helpline 0845 4349585