Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the reasons for trends in the number of new children’s residential homes that have been established in Lancashire.

It is the decision of children’s homes providers to decide on the location and type of building that they wish to use to accommodate children in care. As part of Ofsted’s registration process, children’s homes providers are required to undertake a location assessment, which must show the steps that have been taken to ensure the location is safe and promotes positive opportunities for children. The department recognises the need to ensure there are the right children’s homes in the right places.

As announced in the Spring Budget 2023, the department is continuing to invest in the children’s homes market to provide high quality, safe homes for some of the most vulnerable children and young people in all nine regions of England.

In addition to taking forward the recommendations made by the Care Review and the Competition and Markets Authority, the department is also developing proposals on what more can be done to combat profiteering, bring down costs and create a more sustainable market for residential placements.

The department is developing options regarding the planning of children’s homes and thanks Fylde Council colleagues for their continued engagement in this process.