Children: Care Homes

(asked on 22nd January 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase capacity in the the children’s home care system.


Answered by
Michelle Donelan Portrait
Michelle Donelan
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
This question was answered on 31st January 2020

All local authorities have a duty to ensure they have sufficient provision to meet the needs of children in their care. We recognise that some local authorities are facing challenges ensuring there is sufficient provision in their areas to meet the needs of children. We are continuing to take steps to understand this issue and support local authorities.

We are working to increase placement options so that children are placed in homes that meet their needs. This includes £5 million from our £200 million Innovation Fund to increase councils’ residential capacity and improve commissioning practice. We also recognise that a lack of capacity in the fostering system can impact demand for children’s homes places and we have made nearly £500,000 in seed-funding available for 7 partnerships to test new approaches to sufficiency planning and commissioning in foster care.

We provided funding to local and combined authorities to commission feasibility studies into opening new secure provision to increase available capacity. The Residential Care Leadership Board is also sharing learning across the sector. In 2020-21, local government is getting an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care. This is on top of the continuation of the £410 million social care grant in 2020-21. This will support local authorities to meet rising demand.

The department is continuing to look at what else we can do to support local authorities to ensure that children in care are provided with suitable accommodation that meets their needs. As set out in the manifesto, we are committed to undertaking a review of the care system to make sure that all care placements and settings are providing children and young adults with the support they need.

Reticulating Splines