LEADER of the opposition and MP for Richmond William Hague yesterday claimed the Government was "letting children down".

Speaking at the launch of the Conservative Party's Children First initiative he said children in care were a "minority" being let down by Britain's public services.

He said: "A responsible Government has a duty to protect all our children and guarantee them all a fair chance in life.

"When we let a minority of children down, we let all our children down.

"We let children down when we send three-quarters of children in care into the world with no educational qualifications.

"It is a shame on all of us that the public service of child care produces a quarter of the population of our prisons.

"We let children down when we set up barriers that oblige children in care to wait three years before they can be adopted, despite a long list of responsible, stable, loving families who could adopt them.

"The Government has said many of the right things about these issues. But by failing to take concrete action now, they are letting children down."

Conservatives, he said, want to make sure that the people who regulate child care, and who take crucial decisions on children's lives, are not the same people who run children's homes from day to day.