Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021

Michelle Donelan Excerpts

Tuesday 20th July 2021 General Committees

[The Minister for Universities (Michelle Donelan)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies.

Let me start by saying that the Government firmly believe that every child deserves a place to live where they feel safe and receive the care and support they need not only to survive but to thrive. To be clear, anything less is unacceptable. Having dedicated foster carers, excellent children’s homes and high quality semi-independent settings for older children who are ready for that and which is of the right quality are essential. Our care system should not be a one size fits all, but one that is based on the needs of children and young people. We therefore need a range of options for care placements and support that reflects the diverse needs of children in care and care leavers. Therefore, independent and semi-independent provision can be the right option for some older children, but let me be clear that that is an option only where it is of high quality and the young people are ready for it.

Such a setting can never be the right choice for children under the age of 16; children of that age should be placed in children’s homes—

[Mrs Lewell-Buck]

What the Minister is saying is all very nice, but the SI we are discussing places children who are 16 and 17-years-old in unregulated accommodation where they are not safe. There is no safety mechanism to protect them. How on earth does the Government think that provision will make them safe, protected and cared for?

[Michelle Donelan]

If the hon. Lady will bear with me, I will come on to how we are raising the quality of care, but she is free to intervene again if she wishes.

Children under the age of 16 should be placed in children’s homes or in foster care, which is why we have laid the 2021 regulations, which ban the practice of placing children under the age of 16 in unregulated independent and semi-independent settings from September.

We know that the number of under-16s placed in unregulated settings is relatively small, with around 100 placed nationwide at any one time, but we also know that this often involves children with the most complex needs. Let us be under no illusion, one child in such a setting is one too many, and the Government believe 100% that that is unacceptable.

I reassure hon. Members that we have been working closely with local authorities to understand better what leads them to place under-16s in unregulated provision, so that we can consider how best to support those authorities in the run-up to September, and beyond. That addresses a point raised by the hon. Member for Hove. We have updated statutory guidance, published on 8 July, to make it clear to all local authorities what is expected of them when the ban comes into effect in September. We know that some local authorities have already taken significant steps to reduce the use of unregulated provision, and in many cases have eliminated its use already. All local authorities, of course, must do the same in the coming months.

I know that the Opposition have raised concerns in the past that we are creating a two-tier care system, but that is simply not true. The 2021 regulations do not change the existing duties placed on local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of looked-after children in their care, to meet their needs and to ensure that there is sufficient accommodation. The needs of the child are paramount when making decisions about the right care placement.

Local authorities have statutory duties to meet the needs of children that they look after. To be crystal clear in response to some of questions asked today, where older children’s needs would be best met in a children’s home or in foster care, that is exactly where they should be placed. Banning the placement of children under the age of 16 in independent or semi-independent provision does not in any way establish an arbitrary point at which children in care are moved into such provision on their 16^th birthday. I want to reassure the hon. Member for Hove and others on that point.

In fact, the majority of 16 and 17-year-olds will continue to be placed in children’s homes or in foster care. The latest data show that, as on 31 March 2020, there were more than 80,000 looked-after children and of those, 6,490 were living in independent or semi-independent provision, the majority of whom were over the age of 16. I want to reiterate that the Government are clear that independent and semi-independent provision can be the right option for some older children, but only where it is of high quality, and the young person is ready for that level of independence.

[Mrs Lewell-Buck]

I am little bit curious because the Minister claims that this type of accommodation can work for some children, but the SI actually removes the current level of responsibility that the local authority has for those children by removing the national standards that are a requirement under Ofsted. Can the Minister explain exactly what the Government think is different between a vulnerable child who is 15 and one who is 16 or 17? That is the distinction that is being made in the SI.

[Michelle Donelan]

There are many cases where semi-independent or independent provision for children aged 16 or 17 can be appropriate, for example, asylum seekers who are used to independent living or those children who are judged to be ready to learn to be independent. I am sure that my colleague, the Minister for Children and Families, would be only too delighted to meet the hon. Lady to discuss the matter further in detail.

It is important that we ensure that high-quality option is available to facilitate the development of young people’s independence as they prepare for adulthood and learning to live independently. We already set a high bar for the level of care that must be delivered in a children’s home or by a foster carer. That gives the provider and the commissioner of placements the confidence that those placements are high quality. We believe that it is only right that that standard is also met in independent and semi-independent provision for 16 and 17-year-olds. Further to the point made by the hon. Member for Hove, that is why the Government recently consulted on the introduction of national standards and an Ofsted-led registration and inspection regime for independent and semi-independent settings that accommodate 16 and 17-year-olds.

We are committed to designing that regime in partnership with the sector and care-experienced children and young people to ensure that it delivers the very best for children in the future. Through that consultation we sought views on what the national standards should cover, what the Ofsted regime should look like and how we should better the define the distinctions between care and support—often the dividing line between a children’s home and semi-independent settings.

I feel strongly that the views of young people should shape those vital reforms, which is why we also published a separate consultation aimed at children and young people with experience of care. We have also commissioned a series of focus groups with care experienced young people to complement the public consultation. The reforms will deliver lasting change for children of this country.

We understand that local authorities sometimes find themselves in positions where the most appropriate placement is difficult to access, a point raised by hon Members today. That is why we confirmed in February that we are developing plans, supported by additional investment, to support local authorities to create more places in children’s homes. That includes the £24 million investment announced in the spending review in November to start a programme of works to support local authorities to maintain and expand provision in secure children’s homes.

Although local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient places, the Department for Education has supported local authorities through investing in new approaches to increase capacity. Crucially, we are also supporting projects to reduce the number of children needing to come into care in the first place. We have also invested in behavioural insights research to understand better why people choose to foster and adopt. We have also invested nearly £500,000 between September 2019 and March 2020 in seven partnerships to test new approaches to commissioning and sufficiency planning in foster care. A further £600,000 for four of those partnerships is ongoing from September 2020 to September 2021. We have invested £1million in adopter recruitment in 2020-21 and £84 million over five years through the strengthening families, protecting children programme in 18 local authorities, where evidence shows that that could reduce looked-after children numbers. We have also invested £17.2 million in the supporting families, investing in practice programme in up to 45 local authorities.

Crucially, the Department is also developing a new capital funding programme to aid local authorities to establish new children’s homes. We will finalise the details in the coming weeks, but we are proposing that local authorities will be able to bid for the funding through an open competition on a match-funded basis. That funding will be used by local authorities to establish innovative approaches to reduce over time the number of children needing care, address current shortfalls, including in geographic areas where fewer children have access to available local children’s homes, and ensure sufficient provision for children with more complex needs, or children on remand.

Finally, we have announced that the Government will legislate to give Ofsted additional powers to take action against illegal, unregistered children’s homes—homes that should be registered with Ofsted because they deliver around the clock care, but are currently unregistered. Ofsted can already prosecute those providers but we want it to have access to quicker, earlier legal steps to force providers to close or to register.

I assure hon Members that that legislation will be introduced at the earliest opportunity. I hope that I have reassured the Committee of the importance of those vital reforms. The Government are committed to delivering meaningful, lasting change for children in care and care leavers. I commend the 2021 regulations to the Committee.