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1717683

registered interest
date	13/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in care are moved more than 10 miles away due to a lack of appropriate local care options.
tabling member constituency	St Albans
tabling member printed	Daisy Cooper
uin	25989
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>The ‘Children looked after in England including adoptions’ 2023 data shows that 70% of children who were looked after on 31 March 2023 were placed within 20 miles of home and 21% were placed over 20 miles from home. This data is published on GOV.UK. Information for the remaining 9% was not known or not recorded. In most cases this will be because the child was an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child but it could also be because the home address was not known or for reasons of confidentiality. Information on reasons why children were placed more than 20 miles from their home is not held centrally by the department.</p><p> </p><p>Sometimes out of area placements are essential to keep a child safe, but the department recognises there are challenges in the children’s social care sector. At the Spring Budget, the government announced a £165 million boost to expand places in secure and open residential children’s homes, on top of the £259 million secured at Spending Review 2021. This takes the total planned investment to over £400 million. This Spring Budget funding is expected to create a further 200 open children’s homes (OCHs) places and rebuild Atkinson and Swanwick secure children’s homes (SCHs). This is in addition to the 95 new OCHs, providing 360 additional placements, and two brand new regional SCHs in London and West Midlands created by the Spending Review funding. This total investment illustrates the department’s commitment to support councils in continuing to deliver high-quality services to vulnerable children and families.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 21/05/2024 11:38:14 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4769 label Biography information for Daisy Cooper

1701270

registered interest
date	16/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the primary category of need for children in care aged (a) under one year, (b) one to four years, (c) five to nine years, (d) aged ten to 15 years and (e) 16 to 17 years in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	22055
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>The figures requested can be found in the attached table.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 23/04/2024 14:50:33 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston attachment 1 file name 22055 Table Attachment .xlsx title 22055 Table Attachment
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1700391

registered interest
date	12/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to support local authorities to prioritise the provision of high-quality reunification support for children in care to return home.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Riverside
tabling member printed	Kim Johnson
uin	21278
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/04/2024 answer text <p>The department is committed to ensuring that looked after children are able to achieve permanence. Where a looked after child’s permanence plan is to return to the care of their family, there should be a robust decision making process to ensure this decision is safe and sustainable and will safeguard and promote their welfare. Local authorities should set out what support and services will be provided following reunification.</p><p> </p><p>In the 2023 update to the statutory guidance, titled ‘Working together to safeguard children’, the department set out that local authorities may consider whether family group decision making would support the child’s transition home from care and the role the family network could play in supporting this.</p><p> </p><p>The £45 million Families First for Children Pathfinder programme will test family network reforms through increased use of family group decision making and implementing Family Network Support Packages. These packages will provide practical and financial support to enable family networks to help children stay safe and thrive at home. This reform area will empower families by prioritising family-led solutions engaging wider family networks throughout decisions made about a child which may support reunification.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 22/04/2024 12:26:37 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4824 label Biography information for Kim Johnson

1695261

registered interest
date	12/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of children that are looked-after.
tabling member constituency	Mitcham and Morden
tabling member printed	Dame Siobhain McDonagh
uin	18030
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2024 answer text <p>The latest information on the number of children looked after in England on 31 March 2023 can be found in the annual statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoptions’, which is available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 19/03/2024 14:55:50 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	193 label Biography information for Dame Siobhain McDonagh

1691243

registered interest
date	22/02/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that (a) receiving councils are (i) involved in and (ii) able to object to decisions relating to out of county placements of looked after children and (b) adequate handovers take place between relevant service providers when such a placement is made.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	15215
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2024 answer text <p>The ‘Care Planning, Placement and Care Review (England) Regulations 2010’ and statutory guidance outline duties on local authorities regarding out of area placements, including to notify and consult other local authorities if they place a child in care within their area. A link to the regulations is available at: <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/959/contents/made" target="_blank">https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/959/contents/made</a>. The statutory guidance is also available at: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60e6fb43d3bf7f56896127e5/The_Children_Act_1989_guidance_and_regulations_Volume_2_care_planning__placement_and_case_review.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60e6fb43d3bf7f56896127e5/The_Children_Act_1989_guidance_and_regulations_Volume_2_care_planning__placement_and_case_review.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The needs of the child are paramount when deciding the right care placement. Though the department wants to reduce out of area placements, they will always be part of the care landscape and sometimes circumstances make it the right decision for a child to be placed elsewhere, for example when they are at risk from sexual exploitation, trafficking or gang violence.</p><p> </p><p>The government recognises that there are challenges in the placements market and that is why the government is investing £259 million of capital funding to help local authorities create more beds in their local areas. The funding for open residential placements, match-funded equally by the department and local authority investment, is expected to create 95 new children’s homes, providing 360 additional placements across England.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 27/02/2024 13:24:28 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1685101

registered interest
date	25/01/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of children that are looked-after in (a) the North East and (b) the UK.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	11541
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2024 answer text <p>The latest information on the numbers and rates of children looked after (CLA) in England as of 31 March 2023, including in the North East, can be found in the 'CLA numbers and rates per 10,000 children aged under 18 years - LA' table in the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoptions’, which is available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/213d8053-d566-431e-96a7-08dc1cb7c782" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/213d8053-d566-431e-96a7-08dc1cb7c782</a>.</p><p>The department publishes statistics for CLA in England only. Similar statistics for other countries in the UK are the responsibility of the devolved administrations.</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 31/01/2024 13:18:52 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1663649

registered interest
date	13/10/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of children in residential care.
tabling member constituency	Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport
tabling member printed	Luke Pollard
uin	201503
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>The government published its plans to reform children’s social care on 2 February 2023 through an implementation strategy and consultation, entitled ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. This can be found at: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1147317/Children_s_social_care_stable_homes_consultation_February_2023.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1147317/Children_s_social_care_stable_homes_consultation_February_2023.pdf</a>. A central aim of the strategy is to keep children safely with their families, or extended family, where this is in the best interests of the child.</p><p>The department is investing more than £45 million over the next two years through ‘Families First for Children Pathfinders’ to design and test complex reforms in a number of local areas, across family help, child protection and family network policies. Additionally, we will also be publishing the first ever national Kinship Care Strategy by the end of 2023, which will explore how to better support kinship carers financially and practically.</p><p>Whilst the government recognises the importance of reducing the number of residential care placements for children and young people, residential care can be the right option for some children. Therefore, the department is also supporting local authorities to expand their own provision, which will reduce reliance on the private sector, without reducing the number of placements. We have announced £259 million of capital funding up to 2025 to address concerns in the children’s homes market, and create a market that is more attuned to the needs of local children.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 23/10/2023 17:16:53 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4682 label Biography information for Luke Pollard

1655978

registered interest
date	01/09/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of looked after children who live in unregulated accommodation in England.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	196035
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2023 answer text <p>Information on children looked after in England, including the number of children in unregulated accommodation (independent living or placements in semi-independent accommodation) is published in the annual ‘Children looked after including adoptions’ national statistic: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions</a>.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 15/09/2023 17:25:01 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1654761

registered interest
date	20/07/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's annual report and accounts for 2022/23, published in July 2023, what steps she is taking to mitigate the risk 4 on looked-after children placement market failure.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	195388
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2023 answer text <p>Local authorities have a duty to ensure there are enough places for their children in care. This year, councils have up to £59.7 billion available for their services, including children’s social care. This is a 9.4% increase in cash terms compared to 2022/23. As detailed in the department’s consolidated annual report, the department understands the current challenges in the looked after children placement market. The department is carrying out a number of actions to help mitigate the risks.</p><p> </p><p>As set out in our strategy, Stable Homes, Built on Love<em>,</em> which was published on 2 February 2023, the department is providing £259 million of capital funding over the next parliament to help local government develop more of their own children’s homes. The department is also investing over £27 million over the next two years to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme to boost local authority fostering capacity.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, the department is also working with Ofsted and the sector to develop plans for a provider financial oversight regime to increase transparency and prevent sudden market exit.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 08/09/2023 13:27:55 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1646669

registered interest
date	22/06/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to protect looked after children living in privately-run children's homes from been moved from their homes (a) at short notice and (b) at short notice in the event of a home's closure in cases other than necessary to safeguard and promote the welfare of affected children.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	190832
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2023 answer text <p>The department recognises the impact that unplanned short notice moves can have on looked after children. Both the Independent Care Review and the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) report made recommendations around the commissioning of care placements. In Stable Homes, Built on Love, the department set out our response to these reports and our plans to transform children’s social care. The Children’s social care Stable Homes, Built On Love consultation can be accessed here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1147317/Children_s_social_care_stable_homes_consultation_February_2023.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1147317/Children_s_social_care_stable_homes_consultation_February_2023.pdf</a>.</p><p>To support local authorities to meet their statutory duty to ensure there is sufficient provision for children in their care, the department has announced £259 million capital funding to maintain capacity and expand provision in both secure and open children’s homes that provide high-quality and safe homes for some of our most vulnerable children and young people across England.</p><p>To ensure the resilience of both independent fostering agencies and children’s homes providers, we are working with Ofsted and the sector to develop plans for a financial oversight regime to increase transparency and prevent sudden market exit which would disrupt the lives of children living there.</p><p>As announced in Stable Homes, Built on Love, the department is also investing up to £10 million to develop Regional Care Co-Operatives (RCCs) in two pathfinder areas to plan, commission and deliver children’s social care placements. RCCs will be able to develop a wide range of placements to meet children’s needs better. This, in turn, should lead to improved placements stability.</p><p>We recognise that recruiting staff with the right skills and retaining staff is a challenge for the residential childcare sector.</p><p>Stable Homes, Built on Love is clear that we are exploring the Care Review’s recommendations for supporting the children’s homes workforce, namely through a leadership programme to recruit new talent to the sector and the professional registration of the workforce.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Claire Coutinho question first answered 28/06/2023 15:25:27 answering member 4806 label Biography information for Claire Coutinho
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes