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The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Smith of Basildon) (Lab)
My Lords, today I pay tribute to Lord Laming. His lifetime of public service has left an indelible mark on the whole fabric of British social work, public management and the very conscience of our nation. Herbert’s journey into the public sphere began with a deeply practical grounding, dedicating 20 years to Hertfordshire County Council and ultimately serving as director of social services, before rising to become Chief Inspector of the Social Services Inspectorate from 1991 to 1998.
However, it was his subsequent work on the national stage that elevated him into the public consciousness as a fearless seeker of accountability. Following the tragic death of eight year-old Victoria Climbié, the Government turned to Lord Laming to chair the landmark inquiry, in which he diagnosed a yawning gap between policy aspiration and front-line delivery. He famously observed that protecting a child
“needed nothing more than a manager doing their job by asking pertinent questions”.
His work directly laid the foundations for the Every Child Matters framework in the Children Act 2004. Years later, following the tragedy of baby P, he was called on once more to deliver an urgent national review, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to ensuring that the child’s welfare remains paramount.
Since entering this House in 1998, Herbert Laming was a pillar of the Cross Benches. His parliamentary peers recognised his fairness and integrity by electing him Convener of the Cross Benches from 2011 to 2015, followed by a distinguished tenure as Chairman of Committees. He spent decades reminding us that policies are only as good as their front-line execution. He combined a razor-sharp administrative intellect with a deeply compassionate heart. We owe him a debt of gratitude for forcing our country to look closer, to act more quickly and to better protect some of the most innocent and vulnerable in society. His legacy will endure for generations, and we remember him as a man of great generosity, spirit and decency—and as good company. We had many chats in my office, and I will always remember him first and foremost as a great friend. I know he is going to be sorely missed across your Lordships’ House, but weren’t we lucky to have him here with us? We send our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to all his family and friends.
Lord True (Con)
I thank the noble Baroness the Leader for her marvellous tribute. Like her, I convey our sincerest sympathy to Herbert’s family and friends.
I never heard Herbert raise his voice. Perhaps he did if he ever had a recalcitrant dog, but I doubt that, because Herbert would have calmed the dog, as he calmed every situation, however difficult—and there were quite a few in his life. As the Leader said, he has left a legacy that goes far beyond anything that most of us could ever even aspire to. As she said in her notable tribute, he did outstanding service in chairing two of the most harrowing and important inquiries and reports ever undertaken in the United Kingdom, in the Climbié and the baby P cases. In his typically painstaking, ever-listening and ever-giving to others way, his work revolutionised child care. I can only underline everything that the Leader said about those reports and recommendations. They have come to define the best of modern, professional and inter-agency standards.
He was a consummate professional, though he believed, and said so, that career paths could be closed because of too tightly prescribed routes in life. Much of Herbert’s career actually happened by accident, as he acknowledged. He said:
“We are writing off a huge amount of human potential”,
telling young professionals that
“qualifications had got us through the door, but from now on it was what we did that mattered”.
He was a practical man, with an every-open ear and eye. What you did for others was what he saw.
Some of his greatest insights into the need for inter-agency co-operation came from a very varied career. He started work as a probation officer in Nottinghamshire, near Stanton Ironworks, where my parents met—something we used to joke about quite often. In probation, he went on to study mental health, becoming a psychiatric social worker, and that informed his long, magnificent service in Hertfordshire, which the Leader referred to.
I first met Herbert in No. 10, in the early 1990s, when John Major was pushing through a programme of public service reform, which was aimed at placing greater emphasis on the needs of the user, transparency of outcomes and public accountability. Herbert was made Chief Inspector of Social Services in 1991, and he remained so until 1998. He was an enormous ally in all those efforts to improve public services for users. He was always, as I found then, an inspiration to talk to and a breath of fresh air. He was not a softy. He was hard-headed but kindly-hearted, as the Leader said.
Constant learning was something he applied to himself throughout his life:
“We must … never allow ourselves to think that we know everything”,
he said in an interview late in his life. Amen to that. And how much we learned from his great service in this House, not least as the Convenor of the Cross Benches. He was uniquely considerate of others. I must place on record my personal gratitude to him, as the Leader has in her case, for his sound advice in my many roles in this place.
Perhaps I might end by quoting what was said to me earlier by a younger Conservative colleague, more than 40 years Herbert’s junior: “I do not intend to speak”, she wrote, “But I wanted to let you know of Herbert’s kindness. I turned to him privately many times, as he was so generous with his time and his wise words. I will miss him so much”. We could all say the same of this dear man, who was a giant of public service and who will go on touching the lives of people at risk for generations to come. We will all miss him.
Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)
My Lords, it is a privilege to follow the noble Lord, Lord True, and the Leader, and their very eloquent and emotional tributes to Herbert. Herbert was Convenor of the Cross Benches when I entered this House in 2013. He was always helpful, courteous and polite. For the whole of the duration that it was my pleasure to know him, he never passed, in many of our many corridors, without an inquiry as to how I was, referring to me by my name. After an early occasion in the Chamber having come into this House, when I was characteristically verbose, I got a polite note asking me for a chat. I dutifully went along to the Convener of the Cross Benches’ office and sat down. After receiving a very kind review of what I had said, he even more kindly suggested that I needed not have said it so much and for so long. I got a taste of how he approached his professional and parliamentary life: supportive, kind and, when necessary, firm.
The Earl of Kinnoull (CB)
My Lords, it is a great privilege to follow three such wonderful speeches that have so captured the man who is so dear to my colleagues on the Cross Bench here. Herbert Laming was born in 1936. He left school at 15, and in 1954 he was called up for national service. He chose the Royal Navy and was placed in a detachment that was being prepared for service east of Suez. You can imagine their excitement at the prospect of travel to exotic climes. On parade one morning, however, the chief petty officer asked for four volunteers and, being the man we knew, Ordinary Seaman Laming put his hand up, only to find that, far from being sent east of Suez, he was being posted to serve as stoker on the last remaining coal-fired ship in the Royal Navy. This was also in the Home Fleet, not overseas.
In 1955, however, having been awarded some leave, he was coming back to Liverpool, where his ship was docked, when the train broke down. In the carriage, Herbert worried that he was going to let his captain down by being late, and he got talking to a senior magistrate, who told him how difficult the delay was for him too. They spoke for some hours until the train was finally retrieved, but the net result was that Herbert was enrolled on a correspondence course and, latterly, evening courses that would allow him to go to university. The senior magistrate, Herbert’s captain and others all conspired to make sure that Herbert was able to take the necessary papers. Indeed, when Herbert’s ship called at port, he would usually find a batch of papers waiting for him. Herbert graduated from Durham University in 1960.
In 1962 Herbert married Aileen, who was his wife for 48 years until her untimely death in 2010. They together were on the adventure that was Herbert’s great career. They bought their wonderful home in 1971 when Herbert moved to Hertfordshire; it is in Tewin, the designation of his title.
Your Lordships have heard in the eloquent speeches from the Leader of the House and the noble Lords, Lord True and Lord Purvis, of Herbert’s outstanding career in public services. I can add nothing further on his UK record of public services, but I will record his influence in other countries. Foster care did not exist in China 30 years ago but now does, through Herbert’s patient work with an enterprising charity, Care for Children. The model it developed started just in Shanghai but is now in many parts of China and several other Asian countries, all benefiting from British expertise and Herbert Laming’s magic in this most difficult area.
A year after the death of his beloved Aileen, Herbert became our convenor. He was immensely popular and finished in mid-2015, thinking that at 70 years old his years of service were over. Lord Sewel, however, unexpectedly stood back from his duties, and Herbert, a rare Chairman of Committees not from a major party, took over during the 2015 Summer Recess. When asked what sort of handover he would like, Herbert said that he would prefer it to be limited to activities in this House. I am sorry for those noble Lords who were not there then.
His retirement from the front line was further delayed by his stint as Chair of the Services Committee between 2016 and 2021. In this role he worked with many members of the House administration staff. It has been very touching to me how many of them have come forward since his death to tell me of his kindness towards them and his caring attitude.
Herbert felt unwell for the first time around March this year and was supported fully by his great friend, the noble Lord, Lord Patel, who is in his place today. Herbert’s successor as convener, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead, was also very much a supporter in his final illness and is in his place today. There was much care, love and support from his family, and especially from Katarina and Sarah. To his family I add our condolences from these Benches.
In closing, I take your Lordships back to that parade in 1954 and the young sailors who were off to the Far East. I leave the final word to Herbert, reflecting on his good fortune in life. He said, “If someone asks you to volunteer, put your hand up”.
The Lord Bishop of Hereford
My Lords, it is with great sadness that the Lords spiritual join all noble Lords in marking the passing of Lord Laming, a great friend to so many of my colleagues, a man whose life of public service spanned many decades and whose influence was felt far beyond the institutions in which he formally served. Throughout a distinguished career in social work, public administration and Parliament, he brought wisdom, integrity and an unwavering commitment to the protection of the vulnerable.
We remember him with particular gratitude for the values that animated his work—values that resonate deeply with the mission of the Church, which he loved. He was always someone who looked out for others, who was prepared to stop and speak to staff and check how they were. He had an extraordinary memory for names and the details of people’s lives. He was genuinely interested to hear how people and their families were doing, always cheerful, smiling and with something positive to say, demonstrating his great skill of pastoral ministry, even to bishops. He was a trailblazer in his field and, long before safeguarding became the central concern that it rightly is today, Lord Laming understood that the measure of a society is found in the way it treats those who are most vulnerable and least able to speak for themselves.
As we have heard, the inquiry into the tragic death of Victoria Climbié became a watershed moment for child protection in this country, helping to transform attitudes, practice and accountability across public services. Across the Church, like many institutions, we have learned much from the culture of vigilance, responsibility and care that he consistently advocated.
His work served as a reminder that safeguarding is not merely a matter of procedure but a moral obligation rooted in respect for the dignity of every human person. In that sense, his legacy has made a lasting contribution to the life and witness of the Church, as well as to the wider public realm.
In this House, Lord Laming was widely respected for his independence of mind, his courtesy and his ability to command trust across differences. As Convenor of the Cross Benches and later as Chairman of Committees, he exemplified public service of the highest order. He allowed the Bishops to attend the regular Cross-Bench meeting as what he called “honorary members”. His steady, forensic mind helped hold the Church to account during his time as a member of the Ecclesiastical Committee. Yet perhaps his greatest legacy lies not in the offices he held but in the countless lives made safer because he refused to look away from difficult truths. His determination that vulnerable children should be seen, heard and protected reflected a profound belief in human worth, one that Christians recognise as flowing from the conviction that every person is created in the image of God.
We give thanks for his life, for his faithfulness to public duty, for his compassion and for his enduring contribution to the welfare of children and families. Our prayers are with his family and friends and with all those whose lives were touched by his kindness, wisdom and service. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble (Con)
My Lords, Lord Laming fulfilled his role as Chairman of Committees with considerable distinction. He was dedicated to the service of your Lordships’ House, and indeed, as we have heard, his appointment steadied the ship. He would be a hard act to follow, and his support for his successors as Chairman of Committees and Senior Deputy Speaker was absolute. I shall for ever remember his wisdom and innate kindness. It was a privilege to work with him on the many committees that the Senior Deputy Speaker chairs, often turning to him first to open the consideration; his sound judgment set the tone.
He spoke to everyone in that gentle and clear manner, but let us not forget his determination and tenacity when needed. There was no side to the noble Lord; he was utterly consistent in his decency and resolve. His humanity meant that he dealt with us all with good humour and grace. The noble Lord worked tirelessly for your Lordships, so often unknown to many. It is with profound sadness, and yet with gratitude, that I add these all too inadequate words to recognise such a public servant. Lord Laming was an exemplar that good does, in the end, prevail.
Lord Howell of Guildford (Con)
My Lords, Herbert Laming, as Chairman of Committees, was the one who enabled us to set up a foreign affairs Committee; we called it the International Relations Committee. At last, after many struggles and many years, he enabled it to happen. That committee, of course, has been an outstanding success and has had considerable impact on public thinking, ideas and debate. In retrospect, I believe that will come to be seen as one of his greatest achievements.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Forsyth of Drumlean)
My Lords, as we have heard, the death of Lord Laming, or Herbert as so many of us knew him, is a loss felt deeply across all these Benches. He was unapologetic in his determined campaigning to highlight the day-to-day pressures and achievements of those working in the social services and social care sectors. He gave voice to children who had none and never forgot those less able to protect themselves.
He showed that quiet persistence can change everything and that the gentlest of men can be among the most resolute reformers. He was a thoroughly kind, compassionate and decent person with a genuine interest in people, be it friends, colleagues, staff or complete strangers. He would always say to me, as the right reverend Prelate pointed out, “How are you getting on?”, and he really did mean it. We will never forget him and the caring legacy he has left to our nation. May he rest in peace.