Keir Starmer said today it was “utterly appalling” that a Reform UK councillor described children in care as “downright evil.” The comment was made during Prime Minister’s Questions. Starmer gave Nigel Farage the option to respond but he turned it down, leading the prime minister to label the Reform leader “utterly spineless”.
The remarks by Councillor Andy Osborn, were made during a Children and Young People Committee meeting at Cambridgeshire County Council on 3 June 2025. Osborn (elected to represent Roman Bank and Peckover on 2 May 2025) stated that some Looked After Children were “not just naughty children, they can be downright evil.” The resulting complaints against Osborn have been referred for investigation with no provision for appeal by Cambridgeshire County Council’s Monitoring Officer.
Following national outrage, Osborn was removed from his role on the Children and Young People Committee (CYPC). Cllr James Sidlow (Reform group leader, representing the Ramsey and Bury ward) replaced Osborn on the committee, stating, “Councillor Osborn’s comments were clumsy and regrettable.”
However, Osborn remained a councillor, and in line with the Children and Social Work Act 2017, continued to have influence and responsibility as ‘a corporate parent’ over those with Care Experience. The Local Government Association’s Corporate Parenting Resource Pack refers to this as “one of the most important jobs” and that “[e]very councillor and officer within a council has a responsibility to act for those children and young people as a parent would for their own child.”
Osborn’s response
In the Assessment Decision Notice, Osborn stated, “I wish to make my sincere apologies for my clumsy use of the word ‘evil’ in the CYPC. I did not realise that my interpretation of evil is so different to that of the public, and therefore my choice of words in future will be very cautious. This will never happen again, and I wish for my apologies to be made to the complainers. I have spoken with Grant Osbourn, and he has advised that this is my option going forward as I do not wish to stand down.”
While the Independent Person Assessment recognised that Cllr Osborn had apologised and had been removed from the Children and Young People Committee, it also noted that the Council acts as corporate parent to children in care. As Cllr Osborn is still a member of the Council, the monitoring officer stated that his “comment falls substantially below the standard that would be expected from someone in this role. It sends a negative message to children in the care of the local council and the public generally and could, in my view, potentially affect the reputation of the Council. In view of the seriousness of the potential breach the matter should be referred for investigation.”
The Final Assessment Decision does not refer to the fact that, in 2023, Cambridgeshire County Council passed a Motion that being Care Experienced is a Protected Characteristic.
Personal Experience
As a Care Experienced person living in Cambridgeshire, I can attest to the fact that comments like this are not isolated. I have many times been treated as inherently ‘bad’, or ‘evil,’ by statutory services around Cambridgeshire.
As a child in a Children’s Home in Cambridgeshire, I was treated so poorly that advocates later described my experiences as “torture” and “severe child physical, emotional and sexual abuse.” A decade later, I can’t forget the abuse I and other children around me experienced. Even now, suffering trauma-informed behaviour, I cannot access the support I need. Instead, I am faced with discrimination or punishment.
Unfortunately, abuse is not an uncommon experience within Care, which professionals and decision makers seem to ignore. This response is partly as a result of the way we are stereotyped and judged, without any attempt to understand the causes of our behaviour.
Words, especially when spoken by those in positions of power, normalise assumptions and prejudices. They embolden others to think, speak and act in this way, which translates directly to the harms inflicted on Care Experienced people, leading to many of our ongoing vulnerabilities and even shortened life expectancies.
The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care states “[t]he disadvantage faced by the care-experienced community should be the civil rights issue of our time. Children in care are powerless, are often invisible and they face some of the greatest inequalities that exist in England today.”
Care Experienced people face considerably worse life outcomes than our non-Care Experienced peers, facing issues in
- employment (22% of Care Leavers aged 27 are employed and those that are have an average pay gap of £6,000),
- housing (25% of England’s homeless population are Care Experienced and a third of Care Leavers become homeless within the first two years of leaving Care),
- education (41% of Care Leavers aged 19-21 are out of education, employment and training and only 13% of Care Leavers attend higher education by their 19th birthday),
- healthcare (Care Experienced people are 360% more likely to die prematurely and more likely to die of unnatural causes such as violent deaths, suicide and accidents; 45% of Looked After Children have a mental illness, whilst Care Experienced people are 4-5 times more likely to attempt suicide into adulthood) and loving relationships (1 in 5 Care Leavers report feeling lonely always or most of the time).
After enduring all that, Care Experienced people are heavily criminalised. Looked After Children are 8 times more likely to receive a youth justice caution or conviction than our peers. This is 33% of Looked After Children, compared to just 4% of our peers. This number rises for children who aren’t white.
Care Experienced people and those who work with us across the county were deeply hurt by Osborn’s comments, and he certainly brought shame to Cambridgeshire County Council.
Osborn does not deny the negative sentiment in his words and offers nothing to explain his sentiments. Nor does he offer to educate himself on any aspect of the Care System. He is simply determined not to resign without understanding why people think he should.
One thing being in Care has taught me is that some people shouldn’t be parents, and sometimes the best thing a parent can do for their kids is to let someone else parent them. The same is true of Corporate parentship, and I hope Cllr Osborn learns that too, and resigns.
We deserve better Corporate Parents.
A spokesperson for the county council said: “We are now investigating an allegation that Cllr Osborn has breached the Members’ Code of Conduct. This investigation is expected to take several weeks, and it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
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