Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the latest available statistics on the proportion of looked-after 16-17 year-olds living in (a) independent or semi-independent accommodation and (b) all care settings that are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

The total number of children looked after aged 16-17 from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds who lived in independent or semi-independent accommodation on 31 March 2021 was 2,970 (which represents 50% of the children looked after population aged 16-17 who lived in independent or semi-independent accommodation). The number of children from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds from this age cohort who lived in all care settings on 31 March 2021 was 6,910 (which represents 37% of the children looked after population aged 16-17).

Figures on children looked after for all ages by ethnicity and placement type were published in the Statistical Release ‘Children looked after in England, including adoption: 2020 to 2021', which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2020-to-2021.