Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Armed Forces families relocating between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on children, with special educational needs or disabilities; and what discussions her Department has had with the devolved administrations and the Ministry of Defence on ensuring continuity of support for those children, including the recognition of Education, Health and Care Plans or their equivalents, when families move across borders.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department consulted earlier this year on proposals for reforming the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system, including how support is given through education, health and care (EHC) plans. Working closely with the Ministry of Defence, we have sought and received extensive feedback from service families with children with SEND about the particular challenges faced by their need to relocate regularly. We will set out further proposals for reform based on the consultation responses.
Education is a devolved matter, and across the UK there are different approaches to supporting those with special educational or additional needs, including different eligibilities for accessing statutory documents such as an EHC plan. When a family moves across borders, statutory documents from the other UK nations can help inform decisions over the support for a child and we encourage this practice in the SEND Code of Practice.
I have held discussions on these issues with ministerial colleagues in Wales and Northern Ireland, and we will continue to look to improve the continuity of support for children in these circumstances.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how local authorities' unfunded activity to deliver Family Hubs will be measured against the minimum expectations laid out in guidance.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to ensuring that families can access joined-up support through Best Start Family Hubs (BSFH). The department’s guidance sets minimum expectations for services that are not receiving additional investment through the programme.
Local authorities are responsible for shaping delivery to reflect local needs. How they deliver these wider-service expectations is for them to determine. All local authorities have published Best Start in Life local plans and developed BSFH delivery plans explaining how programme funding and activity will deliver against programme expectations.
The department supports and monitors BSFH delivery against the guidance through these plans, local authority data returns and regular engagement with local authorities. A national evaluation will also assess whether the programme is achieving its intended outcomes and help inform future delivery.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the contract for the National Centre for Family Hubs has been retendered; and if not, when her Department expects a tender to be announced.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The contract for the National Centre for Family Hubs ended on 30 September 2026.
Over the summer, the department undertook an open and competitive procurement exercise to secure a Best Start in Life Implementation Partner. This exercise has now been completed.
The Implementation Partner will provide support to local authorities at individual local authority, regional and national level to improve outcomes for children and families. Further details of the support offer will be communicated to local authorities shortly.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the new specification for the contract for the National Centre for Family Hubs will include regional coordinators.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The contract for the National Centre for Family Hubs ended on 30 September 2026.
Over the summer, the department undertook an open and competitive procurement exercise to secure a Best Start in Life Implementation Partner. This exercise has now been completed.
The Implementation Partner will provide support to local authorities at individual local authority, regional and national level to improve outcomes for children and families. Further details of the support offer will be communicated to local authorities shortly.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many outstanding supported accommodation registration applications have been awaiting determination for (a) fewer than six months, (b) six to 12 months and (c) more than 12 months; and what the median and longest waiting times are.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
These are matters for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for South West Devon and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many supported accommodation registration applications are currently awaiting allocation to an Ofsted inspector, and how many are allocated but awaiting determination.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
These are matters for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for South West Devon and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what interim measures and additional funding are available to local authorities when suitable supported accommodation cannot be secured; and how many young people are being supported through each measure.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring they have sufficiency in their area. The government is providing £560 million to refurbish and expand children’s home placements. To enable the supported accommodation reforms, £123 million was provided to local authorities between 2023 and 2025. This has been incorporated into the Revenue Support Grant for 2026/27 to support local authorities in meeting their statutory duties, which includes supported accommodation.
No specific funding is given to local authorities where Supported Accommodation cannot be secured. As of 31 March 2026, there were 370 ongoing applications from supported accommodation providers, down from 616 in 2025. While registered providers have capacity for a total of 24,700 places, only 7,520 looked after children live in supported accommodation.
The department does not hold information regarding the number of placements ready to be offered by providers who are awaiting registration. While Ofsted has introduced a prioritisation policy for new children's home applications, no such policy currently applies to supported accommodation, although this remains under review.
Programme funding from the department has enabled Ofsted to continue its registration and inspection activities to support compliance with regulatory requirements. It can take several months for Ofsted to process and come to a decision on an application, with timescales sometimes affected by factors outside of Ofsted’s control, such as incomplete applications.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of supported accommodation places that are ready to open but unavailable because the provider’s Ofsted registration remains undetermined.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring they have sufficiency in their area. The government is providing £560 million to refurbish and expand children’s home placements. To enable the supported accommodation reforms, £123 million was provided to local authorities between 2023 and 2025. This has been incorporated into the Revenue Support Grant for 2026/27 to support local authorities in meeting their statutory duties, which includes supported accommodation.
No specific funding is given to local authorities where Supported Accommodation cannot be secured. As of 31 March 2026, there were 370 ongoing applications from supported accommodation providers, down from 616 in 2025. While registered providers have capacity for a total of 24,700 places, only 7,520 looked after children live in supported accommodation.
The department does not hold information regarding the number of placements ready to be offered by providers who are awaiting registration. While Ofsted has introduced a prioritisation policy for new children's home applications, no such policy currently applies to supported accommodation, although this remains under review.
Programme funding from the department has enabled Ofsted to continue its registration and inspection activities to support compliance with regulatory requirements. It can take several months for Ofsted to process and come to a decision on an application, with timescales sometimes affected by factors outside of Ofsted’s control, such as incomplete applications.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether additional staffing and resources have been provided to Ofsted to process supported accommodation applications; and by what date the backlog will be cleared.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring they have sufficiency in their area. The government is providing £560 million to refurbish and expand children’s home placements. To enable the supported accommodation reforms, £123 million was provided to local authorities between 2023 and 2025. This has been incorporated into the Revenue Support Grant for 2026/27 to support local authorities in meeting their statutory duties, which includes supported accommodation.
No specific funding is given to local authorities where Supported Accommodation cannot be secured. As of 31 March 2026, there were 370 ongoing applications from supported accommodation providers, down from 616 in 2025. While registered providers have capacity for a total of 24,700 places, only 7,520 looked after children live in supported accommodation.
The department does not hold information regarding the number of placements ready to be offered by providers who are awaiting registration. While Ofsted has introduced a prioritisation policy for new children's home applications, no such policy currently applies to supported accommodation, although this remains under review.
Programme funding from the department has enabled Ofsted to continue its registration and inspection activities to support compliance with regulatory requirements. It can take several months for Ofsted to process and come to a decision on an application, with timescales sometimes affected by factors outside of Ofsted’s control, such as incomplete applications.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the number of 16 and 17-year-old looked-after children and care leavers (a) awaiting suitable supported accommodation, (b) in temporary accommodation while waiting for supported accommodation, (c) placed outside their home authority because no suitable local placement was available and (d) living in accommodation assessed as unsuitable for each local authority.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The available information relates to 17 and 18-year-old care leavers and whether their accommodation is deemed suitable or unsuitable by local authority. This is published in the annual statistical release which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions/2025.
The latest information relating to the reporting year ending 31 March 2025 can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/a794424e-8e83-46a0-4c69-08df251b5373.
The department does not hold information centrally on the number of looked after children and care leavers (a) awaiting suitable supported accommodation, (b) in temporary accommodation whilst waiting for supported accommodation or (c) placed outside their home authority because no suitable local placements were available.