Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people over the age of 18 have used the Staying Put arrangements to stay with foster parents in Gloucestershire since 2014; and how many time was such a person not granted continuity of care.

The Children and Families Act (2014) introduced a new duty on local authorities in England to advise, assist and support fostered young people to stay with their foster families when they reach 18, if both parties agree. This allow the young person to transition to adulthood when they wish and from the security and stability of an established family base. As with other young people, some care leavers will choose to live independently at age 18; others will choose to live in a staying put arrangement for a short period whilst they complete their education; some will want and need ongoing support within a staying put arrangement until they reach their 21^st birthday.

Information on the number of children in Gloucestershire who ceased to be looked after in a foster placement on their 18th birthday who were eligible for care leaver support and were still living with their former foster carer (“staying put”) at age 18 or age 19 to 20 are shown in the attached tables.

In the table, figures on the number of 18 year old care leavers are presented in a separate tab to figures on 19 and 20 year olds. They were only collected for the first time on an individual level basis in 2016 and are still classed as experimental statistics.

Information on the number of times a child looked after is not granted continuity of care is not held centrally.