Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve support for care leavers.

The department recognises that care leavers have poorer outcomes than their peers across all aspects of their lives. We want all those leaving care to have stable homes, access to health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships, and help to engage in education, employment and training. The department is committed to helping children thrive, and we want the best for every child and family. We want to build on the foundations laid by local authorities to create a care system that works for everyone.

We have already begun this vital work. My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced in his speech in September that we will bring forward legislation, when parliamentary time allows, to remove the local connection requirement for care leavers seeking access to social housing at the next available opportunity.

In the King’s Speech, we committed to introduce a Children’s Wellbeing Bill to take forward further legislative changes needed to improve the children’s social care system, including support for care leavers.