Found: you specifically what you think national and local government can do to pr ioritise the voices of looked

Found: you specifically what you think national and local government can do to prioritise the voices of looked-after

Found: you specifically what you think national and local government can do to pr ioritise the voices of looked

Found: you specifically what you think national and local government can do to prioritise the voices of looked-after

Found: the EU Settlement Scheme66, we are aware of the lack of oversight on a local authority level on looked

Found: families, with 2903 dependents, supported by 69 councils at an annual cost of £28.3 million. 947 looked

Found: Hackney Looked After Children Improve access to s peech and language therapy support for Hackney looked

Found: Looked after children and care leavers Focusing on reunification and kinship care, long-term foster

Found: national framework and dashboard The Spotlight Inquiry (All-Party Parliamentary Group for Looked

Found: include single occupancy (including flats, bedsits, hostels), ring-fenced shared accommodation for looked

Found: time and suggested that 63% of Local Authorities (LAs) providing services for children in need, looked

Found: This gap is the failure to prioritise the voices of looked after children and care leavers in reforming

Found: Ofsted registration and inspection requirements for providers who accommodate 16- and 17- year-old looked

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to support care leavers move into (a) further and (b) tertiary education.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

In 'Stable Homes, Built on Love', the strategy for the reform of children’s social care, the department gave a commitment to improve the education, employment and training outcomes of children in care and care leavers by 2027. This can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/650966a322a783001343e844/Children_s_Social_Care_Stable_Homes__Built_on_Love_consultation_response.pdf.

The department set out a number of actions to take this forward, including:

• The national rollout of £24 million of Pupil Premium Plus-style funding to looked-after children and care leavers in 16-19 education, building on an initial £8 million pilot that launched in October 2021. £10 million was allocated to local authorities in the 2023/24 financial year, with a further £14 million to be allocated in 2024/25.
• Developing an accreditation scheme for higher and further education providers that will set core standards for the support offered to care experienced students, helping increase participation and improve outcomes for this cohort. The department has previously published guidance for higher education providers on how they can ensure care leavers have the support they need to access, and succeed at, university. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/principles-to-guide-he-providers-on-improving-care-leavers-access-and-participation-in-he/principles-to-guide-higher-education-providers-on-improving-care-leavers-access-and-participation-in-he.
• Increasing the Apprenticeships Care Leavers’ Bursary from £1,000 to £3,000, from August 2023, to provide greater financial security for care leavers choosing apprenticeships. This recognises that care leavers face higher living costs than their peers as they often live independently at a younger age and may not have a wider familial network for support.
• Increasing funding for the care leaver covenant by 30% in 2023/24 and 2024/25 to extend its reach and impact. Over 450 organisations have now signed the covenant, including John Lewis, Amazon and Sky, offering employment and other opportunities to support care leavers’ transition to independent living.

In addition to the bursary, the department pays businesses and training providers £1,000 for every care leaver apprentice they employ or train. Employers and providers are free to use their additional funding wherever needed to support their apprentices, including contributions to travel or childcare costs, or the provision of additional mentoring.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking in response to the final report of the Competition and Markets Authority's children’s social care market study published on 10 March 2022, particularly with regard to the finding on excessive charging by private providers of residential care homes for children in public care.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The number of looked-after children in the care of their local authority has increased by 2% to 83,840 at 31 March 2023 from 82,080 last year. The number of children in children’s homes has increased by 16% since 2019.

The department knows that the care system does not currently work for every child and that there are not enough of the right homes in the right places for children in care, resulting in some children living far from where they call home. Moving a child away is not a decision to be taken lightly and there are legislative safeguards around this. Directors of Children’s Services are required to sign off each decision and Ofsted can challenge where they believe poor decisions are being made. This is to encourage local authorities to place children locally wherever possible.

As the Competition and Markets Authority found in their 2022 market study, the largest private providers are making materially higher profits and charging materially higher prices than would be expected if the market was functioning effectively. The department recognises these issues, particularly around large providers with complex ownership structures, and agrees that sometimes placement costs can be too high.

In February 2023, the department published ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, which sets out a broad, system-wide transformation. This can be accessed attached. As part of this strategy, the department is:

• Investing £36 million to support over 60% of all local authorities in England to recruit and retain more foster carers.
• Investing over £142 million up to 2025 to implement new mandatory national standards and Ofsted registration and inspection requirements for providers who accommodate 16 and 17 year old looked-after children and care leavers, in addition to banning the placement of under-16s in supported accommodation.
• Working with the sector to co-design and develop regional care co-operative pathfinders, which will plan, commission, and deliver children’s social care placements.
• Investing £259 million capital funding for secure and open children’s homes.
• Introducing a new market oversight regime that will increase financial transparency across the sector, for example, of ownership, debt structures and profit making.

Finally, the department is supporting kinship families through the first ever national kinship care strategy, which is backed by the following funding: £20 million in 2024/25; over £36 million in a fostering recruitment and retention programme this Spending Review; and £160 million over the next three years to deliver the department’s adoption strategy, entitled ‘Achieving excellence everywhere’.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to achieve a better distribution of residential care homes for children so that they are not placed great distances from their families, friends and school.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The number of looked-after children in the care of their local authority has increased by 2% to 83,840 at 31 March 2023 from 82,080 last year. The number of children in children’s homes has increased by 16% since 2019.

The department knows that the care system does not currently work for every child and that there are not enough of the right homes in the right places for children in care, resulting in some children living far from where they call home. Moving a child away is not a decision to be taken lightly and there are legislative safeguards around this. Directors of Children’s Services are required to sign off each decision and Ofsted can challenge where they believe poor decisions are being made. This is to encourage local authorities to place children locally wherever possible.

As the Competition and Markets Authority found in their 2022 market study, the largest private providers are making materially higher profits and charging materially higher prices than would be expected if the market was functioning effectively. The department recognises these issues, particularly around large providers with complex ownership structures, and agrees that sometimes placement costs can be too high.

In February 2023, the department published ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, which sets out a broad, system-wide transformation. This can be accessed attached. As part of this strategy, the department is:

• Investing £36 million to support over 60% of all local authorities in England to recruit and retain more foster carers.
• Investing over £142 million up to 2025 to implement new mandatory national standards and Ofsted registration and inspection requirements for providers who accommodate 16 and 17 year old looked-after children and care leavers, in addition to banning the placement of under-16s in supported accommodation.
• Working with the sector to co-design and develop regional care co-operative pathfinders, which will plan, commission, and deliver children’s social care placements.
• Investing £259 million capital funding for secure and open children’s homes.
• Introducing a new market oversight regime that will increase financial transparency across the sector, for example, of ownership, debt structures and profit making.

Finally, the department is supporting kinship families through the first ever national kinship care strategy, which is backed by the following funding: £20 million in 2024/25; over £36 million in a fostering recruitment and retention programme this Spending Review; and £160 million over the next three years to deliver the department’s adoption strategy, entitled ‘Achieving excellence everywhere’.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that young children in public care are not placed in unregistered accommodation.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The number of looked-after children in the care of their local authority has increased by 2% to 83,840 at 31 March 2023 from 82,080 last year. The number of children in children’s homes has increased by 16% since 2019.

The department knows that the care system does not currently work for every child and that there are not enough of the right homes in the right places for children in care, resulting in some children living far from where they call home. Moving a child away is not a decision to be taken lightly and there are legislative safeguards around this. Directors of Children’s Services are required to sign off each decision and Ofsted can challenge where they believe poor decisions are being made. This is to encourage local authorities to place children locally wherever possible.

As the Competition and Markets Authority found in their 2022 market study, the largest private providers are making materially higher profits and charging materially higher prices than would be expected if the market was functioning effectively. The department recognises these issues, particularly around large providers with complex ownership structures, and agrees that sometimes placement costs can be too high.

In February 2023, the department published ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, which sets out a broad, system-wide transformation. This can be accessed attached. As part of this strategy, the department is:

• Investing £36 million to support over 60% of all local authorities in England to recruit and retain more foster carers.
• Investing over £142 million up to 2025 to implement new mandatory national standards and Ofsted registration and inspection requirements for providers who accommodate 16 and 17 year old looked-after children and care leavers, in addition to banning the placement of under-16s in supported accommodation.
• Working with the sector to co-design and develop regional care co-operative pathfinders, which will plan, commission, and deliver children’s social care placements.
• Investing £259 million capital funding for secure and open children’s homes.
• Introducing a new market oversight regime that will increase financial transparency across the sector, for example, of ownership, debt structures and profit making.

Finally, the department is supporting kinship families through the first ever national kinship care strategy, which is backed by the following funding: £20 million in 2024/25; over £36 million in a fostering recruitment and retention programme this Spending Review; and £160 million over the next three years to deliver the department’s adoption strategy, entitled ‘Achieving excellence everywhere’.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to tackle the increase of children being taken into public care.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The number of looked-after children in the care of their local authority has increased by 2% to 83,840 at 31 March 2023 from 82,080 last year. The number of children in children’s homes has increased by 16% since 2019.

The department knows that the care system does not currently work for every child and that there are not enough of the right homes in the right places for children in care, resulting in some children living far from where they call home. Moving a child away is not a decision to be taken lightly and there are legislative safeguards around this. Directors of Children’s Services are required to sign off each decision and Ofsted can challenge where they believe poor decisions are being made. This is to encourage local authorities to place children locally wherever possible.

As the Competition and Markets Authority found in their 2022 market study, the largest private providers are making materially higher profits and charging materially higher prices than would be expected if the market was functioning effectively. The department recognises these issues, particularly around large providers with complex ownership structures, and agrees that sometimes placement costs can be too high.

In February 2023, the department published ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, which sets out a broad, system-wide transformation. This can be accessed attached. As part of this strategy, the department is:

• Investing £36 million to support over 60% of all local authorities in England to recruit and retain more foster carers.
• Investing over £142 million up to 2025 to implement new mandatory national standards and Ofsted registration and inspection requirements for providers who accommodate 16 and 17 year old looked-after children and care leavers, in addition to banning the placement of under-16s in supported accommodation.
• Working with the sector to co-design and develop regional care co-operative pathfinders, which will plan, commission, and deliver children’s social care placements.
• Investing £259 million capital funding for secure and open children’s homes.
• Introducing a new market oversight regime that will increase financial transparency across the sector, for example, of ownership, debt structures and profit making.

Finally, the department is supporting kinship families through the first ever national kinship care strategy, which is backed by the following funding: £20 million in 2024/25; over £36 million in a fostering recruitment and retention programme this Spending Review; and £160 million over the next three years to deliver the department’s adoption strategy, entitled ‘Achieving excellence everywhere’.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to provide rehabilitation support to children who have lived in care who are in police custody or serving custodial sentences.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department recognises that children in care are more likely than their peers in the general population to have contact with the criminal justice system. That is why, in 2018, the department published a joint national protocol with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), on reducing the unnecessary criminalisation of looked after children and care leavers. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-protocol-on-reducing-criminalisation-of-looked-after-children. Since its publication, the proportion of children in care aged 10 to 17 who are charged with an offence or receive a caution has reduced from 3% in 2019 to 2% in 2023.

Latest data for the year ending March 2023 also show that 3% of care leavers age 19 to 21 were in custody. This figure has remained the same for the last five years.

All care leavers are entitled to a Personal Adviser to support them in making the transition from care to independence. Personal Advisers are required to keep in touch with the young person, work with them to develop a mandatory pathway plan and to advocate on behalf of the young person. If a care leaver receives a custodial sentence, their Personal Adviser is still expected to keep in touch, through visiting the young person in prison, and to maintain the young person’s pathway plan.

Through the care leaver Ministerial Board, the department is working closely with MoJ to improve support and outcomes of care-experienced people in the criminal justice system. MoJ is currently updating its strategy for people with care experience, to ensure that their time in the criminal justice system is used to support them to lead crime-free lives. MoJ is aiming to publish this strategy in 2024.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many minors in care have been taken into custody in the last 12 months; and how many children who have lived in care are currently serving a custodial sentence.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department recognises that children in care are more likely than their peers in the general population to have contact with the criminal justice system. That is why, in 2018, the department published a joint national protocol with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), on reducing the unnecessary criminalisation of looked after children and care leavers. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-protocol-on-reducing-criminalisation-of-looked-after-children. Since its publication, the proportion of children in care aged 10 to 17 who are charged with an offence or receive a caution has reduced from 3% in 2019 to 2% in 2023.

Latest data for the year ending March 2023 also show that 3% of care leavers age 19 to 21 were in custody. This figure has remained the same for the last five years.

All care leavers are entitled to a Personal Adviser to support them in making the transition from care to independence. Personal Advisers are required to keep in touch with the young person, work with them to develop a mandatory pathway plan and to advocate on behalf of the young person. If a care leaver receives a custodial sentence, their Personal Adviser is still expected to keep in touch, through visiting the young person in prison, and to maintain the young person’s pathway plan.

Through the care leaver Ministerial Board, the department is working closely with MoJ to improve support and outcomes of care-experienced people in the criminal justice system. MoJ is currently updating its strategy for people with care experience, to ensure that their time in the criminal justice system is used to support them to lead crime-free lives. MoJ is aiming to publish this strategy in 2024.

Found: This includes registration for supported accommodation for looked after children and care leavers aged

Found: Ofsted has today published guidance for inspecting providers of supported accommodation for looked after

Found: Adulthood for Care Leavers) : Guidance setting out the responsibilities of local authorities towards looked

Found: (SCCIF): supported accommodation Guidance on how Ofsted inspects supported accommodation for looked

Found: This includes registration for supported accommodation for looked after children and care leavers aged

Found: Don’t know 13 Applying corporate parenting principles to looked-after children and care leavers