Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the safety of children in care placed in unregulated homes.
This is a priority area for this government. Where local authorities place children in independent and semi-independent settings, they must ensure that they are suitable and meet the needs of young people.
Ministers have reminded local authorities of their duty to keep children safe, particularly if they are placed away from their area. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, made this expectation clear in his letter to local authorities last year, and we will progress action.