Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people under the age of (a) 16 and (b) 18 who have been subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Order in (i) England and (ii) Wales were placed in unregistered provision in each year between 2017-18 and 2021-22.

The department does not collect information on the number or characteristics of children subject to a Deprivation of Liberty order.

In July 2022, the President of the Family Division established a National Deprivation of Liberty court, which is to be supported by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. This will improve the department’s understanding of the cases that are being heard by the court, and to understand more about what can be done to better meet the needs of the children involved.

Where local authorities place children subject to a Deprivation of Liberty order in a setting that is not registered with Ofsted, they should follow the ‘Placements in unregistered children’s homes in England or unregistered care home services in Wales’ guidance issued by the President of the Family Division in November 2019, alongside its December 2020 addendum. The guidance is clear that an application to register the provision with Ofsted must be made within seven working days from the date of the Deprivation of Liberty order. The department supports this guidance and adherence to it.

The latest information on the number of children looked after is available in the ‘Children looked after in England’ statistical release available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.