Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the concentrations of children's homes in certain parts of the country.

Ofsted annually publishes information on the location of children's homes as part of its role in the registration and inspection of children's homes. The latest information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childrens-social-care-in-england-2026/main-findings-childrens-social-care-in-england-2026.

The department takes an active role as steward of the children's social care placements system to ensure children can access the right homes, in the right places, to meet their needs.

Regional Care Cooperatives (RCCs) are being established to shape the market by pooling demand and acting to bring together local authorities, health partners and youth justice services to plan future need, commission placements and create new care provision where needed.

This shifts the system away from reactive purchasing and towards long-term planning, larger scale commercial agreements and increasing RCC led provision, achieving better value for money and outcomes for children in care.