Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s Safeguarding children with disabilities and complex health needs in residential settings: phase 1 report, published on 26 October, what plans they have to conduct a nationwide review on similar homes, with a particular focus on concerns raised by parents.

The department wants to thank the national child safeguarding panel for their recent report and ongoing review. Their final report and recommendations will be published next year.

The police investigation is ongoing. The complex abuse investigation started in March 2021, and all children who lived in the children’s homes were moved to alternative homes by April. The children’s homes have since closed.

The department issued a Written Ministerial Statement setting out the actions we are taking on the day the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s report was published.

The department has:

• Sought assurances from local authorities about the safety and wellbeing of all children who were living in the three homes when they were closed.
• Asked local authorities to review their commissioning processes for children and young people with complex needs and ensure they act on concerns.
• Reiterated the importance of Disclosure and Barring Service and employment checks being undertaken prior to employment in residential establishments.

In August 2022, the Panel asked all local authorities in England to:

• Review urgently the quality and safety of individual placements of children in specialist residential provision.
• Local Authority Designated Officers (LADO) review all information on any LADO referrals, complaints and concerns over the last three years.

Local authorities will report to the department by the end of the year.

The department’s plans for responding to recent reviews of children’s social care and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities are being drawn up in parallel, building a coherent system that works for all vulnerable children. We are rapidly working up an ambitious and comprehensive implementation strategy in response to these reviews.