A former deputy director of children’s services in Hackney has called out the government for targeting poor families and traumatising them further by unnecessarily removing children from their care.

Steve Goodman, made the comments at a Frontline Leadership Event. Goodman told the audience:

“What this government is doing to poor families is atrocious. The food banks, the rubbish private housing, the precarious employment position of people is awful. But that does not mean we should add to that awfulness by taking people’s children away when we don’t need to… People’s lives are worse, that doesn’t mean that we need to compound that”.

You can watch the speech in full, below.