Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, under what circumstances it is permitted for a child in care to be placed in a unregulated residential care setting.

The Children Act (1989) set out that the assessment of a child’s needs to inform his or her care, or pathway plan, may conclude that for some children, these needs will be best met by a placement in ‘other arrangements’. When local authorities place young people in ‘other arrangements’, such as independent or semi-independent provision (often referred to as unregulated or unregistered), they are responsible for ensuring the placement provides the level of support the young person needs. It is not in accordance with the legislation to place a looked after child in a setting that does not meet their needs and keep them safe, and it is unacceptable for any child or young person to be placed in such a setting.

We are concerned about increases in the number of children under the age of 16 being placed in this type of provision. Many children in the care system under the age of 16 are very vulnerable and often have complex needs. We do not believe that independent and semi-independent settings can meet all of these needs and, therefore, children of this age should not be placed in these settings under any circumstances. While local authorities have local measures in place to quality assure the provision, the quality of the provision is variable, and does not always meet the needs of young people and keep them safe. We know that young people placed in this provision are more likely to go missing and can be particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

We have consulted on a set of ambitious proposals including banning children under the age of 16 from being placed in unregulated accommodation and how to enforce new national standards for providers to drive up quality, keeping young people safer and delivering better outcomes (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/unregulated-provision-for-children-in-care-and-care-leavers). We will be responding to this consultation and setting out our plans for ensuring the high-quality of unregulated semi-independent and independent accommodation in due course.