Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) introducing a "special circumstances" policy permitting 16- and 17-year-olds with specific care needs to be placed in CQC registered provision.

16- and 17-year-olds with specific care needs can be accommodated in services registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), provided the service is delivering a CQC-regulated activity and does not meet the statutory definition of a children's home.

We keep policy and regulatory arrangements in this area under review as part of our work with the Department for Education on transitions.