Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support care leavers in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.

The department is committed to ensuring that, regardless of where they live, care leavers have access to stable housing, health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships, and opportunities in education, employment, and training.

All local authorities are required to publish a local offer for care leavers. This outlines both the statutory support they are entitled to and any discretionary services the authority provides. To strengthen this, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will make the Staying Close programme a national offer for eligible care leavers. This will require local authorities to assess whether care leavers need support to find and maintain suitable accommodation, and access services related to health, wellbeing, relationships, education, and employment, and provide that support where their welfare requires it.

The Bill will also enhance the local offer by strengthening requirements around accommodation and promoting joint working between leaving care and housing teams.

Local housing authorities currently owe duties to those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. To better support care leavers, the Bill removes the intentional homelessness test for eligible individuals, ensuring they receive the housing support they need without unnecessary barriers.