Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the ambition outlined in their Stable Homes, Built on Love: Implementation Strategy and Consultation, published in February, to "increase the number of care leavers going to university", what steps they will take to support access to safe and secure housing for care leavers when they are at university.

The department gave a commitment in ‘Stable Homes Built on Love’ to work with the sector to develop a gold standard accreditation scheme for further education (FE) and higher education (HE) institutions. This covers all aspects of support for care experienced young people, including access to affordable year-round accommodation. Furthermore, local authorities are under a legal duty to ensure that any care leaver in full time residential FE or HE has suitable accommodation if they need it during a vacation.

As set out in ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the government is also committed to seeing an increase in the number of care leavers in safe, suitable accommodation. The department is providing £99.8 million to local authorities in this Spending Review period to increase the number of care leavers that remain with their former foster families in a family home up to the age of 21, through the ‘Staying Put’ programme. We are also providing £53 million in this Spending Review period to increase the number of young people leaving care through the ‘Staying Close’ programme, providing an enhanced support package including an offer of move-on accommodation for young people leaving children’s homes and other forms of residential care.