Children: Social Services

(asked on 20th April 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish the national set of standards for independent and semi-independent placements for children in social care.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 27th April 2021

The government will be introducing national standards for independent and semi-independent settings for children in care and care leavers aged 16 and 17, to raise the bar for this provision. This was set in our response to the consultation on reforms to the use of unregulated provision: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/unregulated-provision-for-children-in-care-and-care-leavers.

The national standards will work towards ensuring that local authorities can be confident when making placements in this provision. They will also strengthen our ability to take action against poor providers. Most importantly, they will ensure that our children and young people are safe and have the best possible chances of success in life.

We know that this new regime will represent a major change for local authorities and providers. This is why we are committed to designing and implementing this regime in collaboration with the sector and with care-experienced children and young people. We are working closely with a range of partners across the sector to prepare a consultation on the content of the national standards and accompanying Ofsted regime.

We will publish this consultation shortly, which will include a draft version of the national standards.

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