Children in Care

(asked on 1st June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) number of children in care provided by (i) private companies and (ii) local authorities and (b) average cost differential between those two provisions.


Answered by
Will Quince Portrait
Will Quince
This question was answered on 10th June 2022

The department does not hold specific data on the number of children in care placed with private providers or local authorities. Ofsted publishes data on the number of places available in children’s homes or foster care that are provided by local authorities or private companies, but not the proportion of places taken up by children.

As of 31 March 2021, private companies ran 83% of children’s homes (2,032) in England, providing 78% (7,555) of places. Local authorities ran 14% (339) of children’s homes, providing 16% (1,643) of places. Twenty-three of these local authority homes were run by organisations that provide the children’s services function of the council, including trusts. Voluntary providers ran 91 homes (4%), providing 501 places (5%).

There were 13 secure children’s homes in England as of 31 March 2021, offering 234 places in total. 12 of these homes are run by local authorities and one by a voluntary organisation.

Local authorities provided 64% (29,500) of foster placements in England as of 31 March 2021, with the remaining 36% (15,800) provided through independent fostering agencies.

The recent children’s social care market study completed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) considered evidence of cost differentials between private providers and local authority run children’s homes (excluding secure children’s homes) and foster care. Their analysis found that for children’s homes, the cost to local authorities to provide their own placements was no lower than procuring these through private providers. However, the analysis also found indicative evidence that for fostering placements, local authorities could provide some placements more cheaply in-house as opposed to purchasing them through private providers.

The department has welcomed the report and is carefully considering the CMA’s recommendations.

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