Children: Care Homes

Lord Lexden Excerpts

Monday 21st June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lexden (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as president of the Independent Schools Association. What progress has been made by the excellent schemes to provide places in both state and independent boarding schools for children in care who would be suited to them and benefit from them—which not all children in care would? Should not local authorities consider this option for their children in care with a completely open mind? How does the average annual cost of a place in a children’s home compare with that in a boarding school?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Lord is correct. Through the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation charity, the Government are currently running regional pilots in the south-west, the north-east and London, to try to ensure that, where it is in the best interests of the child and the most appropriate placement is in one of those boarding schools, that is the placement. That is being done with a view to, after looking at the regional pilots, making it national.