Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review current practices for commissioning of foster care services.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recommended that the government introduces a network of Regional Care Cooperatives (RCCs) to plan, commission and deliver children’s social care placements in fostering, children’s homes and secure homes on a regional basis. The department has committed to trialling this approach with two RCC pathfinders to build an evidence base before future rollout.
The department’s long-term vision is that RCCs will help improve commissioning and sufficiency, and better enable local authorities to meet the needs of the children in their care, whilst reforming foster parent recruitment and retention.
In addition, the department is investing £36 million to deliver a fostering and retention programme so foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain existing foster carers. Darlington local authority, as part of the North East pathfinder, were one of the first local authorities to take part in this programme.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that (a) care leavers and (b) children in care are given placements as close as possible to (i) extended family members and (ii) others with whom they have important personal relationships.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of new placements for children looked after over 20 miles from their homes during the reporting year ending 31 March 2023 was 18,720. This represents 21% of new placements for children looked after during the year, compared to 67% who were placed 20 miles or less, and 13% where distance was not known or not recorded. If a child has more than one new placement then each will be counted.
Further information on placement distance and locality has been published in the ‘Children looked after including adoptions’ statistical release. This data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aa5c9275-7f98-49e2-e5bb-08dc65d392eb.
The department does not collect data on the reasons for which a child may be placed more than 20 miles away from their home area.
The department wants to reduce out of area placements, however, they will always be part of the care landscape. Certain circumstances can make it the right decision for a child to be placed elsewhere, for example when they are at risk from sexual exploitation, trafficking or gang violence.
The department does recognise there are issues in the placement market, which is why the department has announced over £400 million in capital funding to help local authorities create more beds in their local areas helping to create an additional 560 placements across England.
The department is also investing £36 million this Parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme so foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain the carers we have.
In addition to the support provided by local authorities, the government is providing over £250 million during this Spending Review period to support young people leaving care with housing, access to education, employment, and training, and to help them develop social connections and networks, to avoid loneliness and isolation.
The department has also committed to increasing the number of local authorities with family finding, befriending and mentoring programmes. Following a local authority grant funding application round, the department is now funding 50 programmes across 45 local authorities. These programmes will help children in care and care leavers to identify and connect with the important people in their lives and create safe, stable, loving relationships.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in care were moved more than 20 miles away from their home in the 2022-23 financial year; and what steps she is taking to help reduce this number in future years.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of new placements for children looked after over 20 miles from their homes during the reporting year ending 31 March 2023 was 18,720. This represents 21% of new placements for children looked after during the year, compared to 67% who were placed 20 miles or less, and 13% where distance was not known or not recorded. If a child has more than one new placement then each will be counted.
Further information on placement distance and locality has been published in the ‘Children looked after including adoptions’ statistical release. This data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aa5c9275-7f98-49e2-e5bb-08dc65d392eb.
The department does not collect data on the reasons for which a child may be placed more than 20 miles away from their home area.
The department wants to reduce out of area placements, however, they will always be part of the care landscape. Certain circumstances can make it the right decision for a child to be placed elsewhere, for example when they are at risk from sexual exploitation, trafficking or gang violence.
The department does recognise there are issues in the placement market, which is why the department has announced over £400 million in capital funding to help local authorities create more beds in their local areas helping to create an additional 560 placements across England.
The department is also investing £36 million this Parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme so foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain the carers we have.
In addition to the support provided by local authorities, the government is providing over £250 million during this Spending Review period to support young people leaving care with housing, access to education, employment, and training, and to help them develop social connections and networks, to avoid loneliness and isolation.
The department has also committed to increasing the number of local authorities with family finding, befriending and mentoring programmes. Following a local authority grant funding application round, the department is now funding 50 programmes across 45 local authorities. These programmes will help children in care and care leavers to identify and connect with the important people in their lives and create safe, stable, loving relationships.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's statistical publication of 16 November 2023, what information his Department holds on the reasons for which children in care were in a placement more than 20 miles from their home in 2023.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of new placements for children looked after over 20 miles from their homes during the reporting year ending 31 March 2023 was 18,720. This represents 21% of new placements for children looked after during the year, compared to 67% who were placed 20 miles or less, and 13% where distance was not known or not recorded. If a child has more than one new placement then each will be counted.
Further information on placement distance and locality has been published in the ‘Children looked after including adoptions’ statistical release. This data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aa5c9275-7f98-49e2-e5bb-08dc65d392eb.
The department does not collect data on the reasons for which a child may be placed more than 20 miles away from their home area.
The department wants to reduce out of area placements, however, they will always be part of the care landscape. Certain circumstances can make it the right decision for a child to be placed elsewhere, for example when they are at risk from sexual exploitation, trafficking or gang violence.
The department does recognise there are issues in the placement market, which is why the department has announced over £400 million in capital funding to help local authorities create more beds in their local areas helping to create an additional 560 placements across England.
The department is also investing £36 million this Parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme so foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain the carers we have.
In addition to the support provided by local authorities, the government is providing over £250 million during this Spending Review period to support young people leaving care with housing, access to education, employment, and training, and to help them develop social connections and networks, to avoid loneliness and isolation.
The department has also committed to increasing the number of local authorities with family finding, befriending and mentoring programmes. Following a local authority grant funding application round, the department is now funding 50 programmes across 45 local authorities. These programmes will help children in care and care leavers to identify and connect with the important people in their lives and create safe, stable, loving relationships.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of foster care placements in (a) Suffolk Coastal constituency and (b) Suffolk.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is investing over £36 million this Parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme, so that foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain the foster carers we have.
Suffolk County Council is participating in this programme and is working in a regional cluster group, ‘Foster East’, which is led by Norfolk.
Greater financial support for foster carers will help improve the experiences of all children in care. For the second year running, the department is uplifting the National Minimum Allowance (NMA) above the rate of inflation. For 2024/25, the NMA will increase by 6.88%. This is on top of a 12.43% NMA increase in 2023/24.
In addition, the department estimates that changes to tax and benefit allowances will give the average foster carer an additional £450 per year, as well as simplifying the process for self-assessment returns for most foster carers.
The department will also build on its investment since 2014 of over £8 million to help embed the Mockingbird programme, which is an innovative model of peer support for foster parents and the children in their care where children benefit from an extended family environment.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential benefits of introducing more flexible working arrangements for maternity staff in NHS services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Flexible working arrangements, or We work flexibly, is one of the elements contained in the NHS People Promise, with a commitment to deliver for staff, including midwives, by 2024/25. NHS England has created and shared flexible working arrangement resources, and delivered bespoke webinars and workshops on the issue. They have also brought together midwifery leaders from across the system to share good practice, foster collaboration, and support the implementation of flexible working across maternity services.
In September 2021, contractual changes took effect for employees covered by the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, which includes the right to request flexible working from day one, without the need to provide a justification.
Flexible working is one of the key pillars of improving staff experience and retention, as set out in the Long Term Workforce Plan. It will contribute to the aim of retaining up to 130,000 more staff over the course of the plan. However, no assessment of the benefits of introducing more flexible working arrangements specifically for maternity staff has been made.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2024 to Questions 15600 and 15601 on Children in Care and Foster Care, if she will publish the number of children looked after who were cared for in a (a) relative and (b) friend foster placement by (i) age, (ii) gender, (iii) ethnicity and (iv) local authority level as of 31 March 2023.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The latest figures on children looked after who were cared for in a relative or friend foster placement by age, gender and ethnicity and at local authority level are shown in the attached tables. The department does not hold the data broken down separately into relative foster placements and friend foster placements. Therefore, the combined totals have been provided. Data has been provided for children looked after on 31 March 2023.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of foster care placements in (a) South Holland district and (b) Lincolnshire.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Lincolnshire County Council is participating in the £45 million Families First for Children Pathfinder, which came out of the department’s children’s social care implementation strategy Stable Homes, Built on Love. The pathfinder aims to rebalance children’s social care away from costly crisis intervention to more meaningful and effective early support.
As part of the pathfinder, the department is working with a select number of local areas to test significant changes to how local areas help children and young people. This includes increasing support at the earlier end of the system, with the aim of keeping children with birth parents or wider family where safe to do so. This will help to reduce the number of children looked after and therefore drive down demand for foster care or other placements.
There is support available from the department where children are unable to stay with their birth families and foster care placements are sought. Lincolnshire County Council are being supported by the Fosterlink support service. Fosterlink provides support for local authorities to improve the way they recruit foster carers by reviewing current processes to identify areas for service and practice improvements, as well as creating a national network in which to share best practice.
More broadly, the department is investing over £36 million this parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme, so foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain the foster carers we have.
Greater financial support for foster carers will help improve the experiences of all children in care. For the second year running, the department is uplifting the National Minimum Allowance (NMA) above the rate of inflation. For 2024/2025, the NMA will increase by 6.88%. This is on top of a 12.43% NMA increase in 2023/24.
In addition, the department estimates that changes to tax and benefit allowances will give the average foster carer an additional £450 per year as well as simplifying the process for self-assessment returns for most foster carers.
The department will also build on this investment since 2014 of over £8 million to help embed the Mockingbird programme, an innovative model of peer support for foster parents and the children in their care where children benefit from an extended family environment.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of foster care placements in (a) St Helens North constituency and (b) the North West.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is investing over £36 million this parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme, so that foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as aiding the retention of foster carers already in place.
St Helens North is participating in this programme, working in a regional cluster group, ‘Foster4’, which is led by Warrington.
Greater financial support for foster carers will help improve the experiences of all children in care. For the second year running, the department is increasing the National Minimum Allowance (NMA) above the rate of inflation. For 2024/2025, the NMA will increase by 6.88%. This is on top of a 12.43% NMA increase in 2023/24.
In addition, the department estimates that changes to tax and benefit allowances will give the average foster carer an additional £450 per year as well as simplifying the process for self-assessment returns for most foster carers.
The department will also build on its investment since 2014 of over £8 million to advance the work of the Mockingbird programme, an innovative model of peer support for foster parents and the children in their care where children benefit from an extended family environment.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of foster care placements in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Lincolnshire County Council is participating in the £45 million Families First for Children Pathfinder, which came out of the department’s children’s social care implementation strategy Stable Homes, Built on Love. The pathfinder aims to rebalance children’s social care away from costly crisis intervention to more meaningful and effective early support.
As part of the pathfinder, the department is working with a select number of local areas to test significant changes to how local areas help children and young people. This includes increasing support at the earlier end of the system, with the aim of keeping children with birth parents or wider family where safe to do so. This will help to reduce the number of children looked after and therefore drive down demand for foster care or other placements.
There is support available from the department where children are unable to stay with their birth families and foster care placements are sought. Lincolnshire County Council are being supported by the Fosterlink support service. Fosterlink provides support for local authorities to improve the way they recruit foster carers by reviewing current processes to identify areas for service and practice improvements, as well as creating a national network in which to share best practice.
More broadly, the department is investing over £36 million this parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme, so foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain the foster carers we have.
Greater financial support for foster carers will help improve the experiences of all children in care. For the second year running, the department is uplifting the National Minimum Allowance (NMA) above the rate of inflation. For 2024/2025, the NMA will increase by 6.88%. This is on top of a 12.43% NMA increase in 2023/24.
In addition, the department estimates that changes to tax and benefit allowances will give the average foster carer an additional £450 per year as well as simplifying the process for self-assessment returns for most foster carers.
The department will also build on this investment since 2014 of over £8 million to help embed the Mockingbird programme, an innovative model of peer support for foster parents and the children in their care where children benefit from an extended family environment.