Asked by: Ann Coffey (The Independent Group for Change - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 April 2018 to Question 134364, on runaway children, how many looked-after children placed in children’s homes (a) inside and (b) outside the borough of the authority responsible for their care were reported missing.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Information on the number of missing incidents of looked after children in children’s homes by the location of the placement is shown in the attached table.
These statistics are experimental statistics based on data collected for the first time in 2015 and should be treated with caution as local councils’ recording of this information is improving over time. The figures are therefore not comparable between years and any assessment of trends should take this into account. The information provided does not mean that the number of children going missing is increasing in the volumes indicated in the table.
Local councils have improved their reporting of missing incidents through increased collaboration with partner organisations and carers, updated recording systems, and further training for carers to improve understanding of reporting processes.
Asked by: Ann Coffey (The Independent Group for Change - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of looked after children who were reported missing from their placement by (a) placement type, (b) placement provider, (c) distance from placing authority in the last 5 years for which figures are available.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Information on the number of missing incidents of looked after children in each of the last three years by their placement type has been published in Table G1 of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2016 to 2017’ at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2016-to-2017.
Information on the number of missing incidents of looked after children by provider and the distance from the placing authority are provided in the attached table. In 2016/17, missing incidents were reported for 10,700 children, some of whom will have multiple missing incidents.
This information was collected for the first time in 2014-15 and so figures for earlier years are not available.
These statistics are experimental statistics based on data collected for the first time in 2015 and should be treated with caution as local councils’ recording of this information is improving over time. The figures are therefore not comparable between years and any assessment of trends should take this into account. The information provided does not mean that the number of children going missing is increasing in the volumes indicated in the table.
Local councils have improved their reporting of missing incidents through increased collaboration with partner organisations and carers, updated recording systems, and further training for carers to improve understanding of reporting processes.
Asked by: Ann Coffey (The Independent Group for Change - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the membership is of the Residential Care Leadership Board.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Sir Alan Wood was appointed as chair of the Residential Care Leadership Board on the 7 November 2017. Sir Alan Wood is a public appointee and his selection followed a competitive recruitment process. Further appointments of unsalaried board members will be made in due course by the department, in consultation with the chair.
In order to make sure that the board’s efforts are focused on the areas that will have the most impact, Sir Alan Wood is undertaking a programme of engagement with the sector to understand the key issues. This will enable us to determine the right membership to take forward the work programme.
Asked by: Ann Coffey (The Independent Group for Change - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2017 to Question 113046 on witnesses: video recordings, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the initial rollout in six Crown Courts of Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 been; which courts he expects to be in the next phase of the that rollout; and when the national rollout will be completed.
Answered by Phillip Lee
We are upgrading the technology that will record and playback the cross examination which is essential to support the roll out of s.28. However, testing of this technology identified some issues that we are working hard to resolve and it is still our intention to roll out s.28 this year. We want to make sure we get this right for some of the most vulnerable people in society and that no technical obstacles stand in their way of giving their best evidence possible.
Asked by: Ann Coffey (The Independent Group for Change - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to commence the provisions of the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Government is preparing the necessary secondary legislation to enable the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017 to be brought into force and remains committed to achieving this as soon as is reasonably practicable, but has not yet fixed a date.
Asked by: Ann Coffey (The Independent Group for Change - Stockport)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions under the Modern Slavery Act in 2017 were for cases involving victims under 18.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced, including offences charged by way of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 on its Case Management Information System. These data may be further disaggregated by the child abuse case monitoring flag. The CPS definition of child abuse covers any case where the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the offence and allegations or crimes perpetrated by both adults and under 18s.
During the most recently available year, the number of Modern Slavery Act offences flagged as child abuse, is as follows:
- | 2016-2017 | |
- | Child Abuse Flagged Offences | Total Offences |
Modern Slavery Act 2015 { 1(1)(a) and 5(1) } | 0 | 13 |
Modern Slavery Act 2015 { 1(1)(b) and 5(1) } | 0 | 10 |
Modern Slavery Act 2015 { 2(1) and 5(1) } | 21 | 73 |
Modern Slavery Act 2015 { 4 and 5(2) } | 0 | 1 |
Modern Slavery Act 2015 { 4 and 5(3) } | 0 | 1 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | ||
There is no indication of the number of individual defendants prosecuted for these offences or the final outcome of the prosecution proceeding or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at the time of finalisation. It is often the case that defendants will be prosecuted for more than one offence in the same set of proceedings.
Asked by: Ann Coffey (The Independent Group for Change - Stockport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children have been accepted into the National Referral Mechanism as victims of criminal exploitation.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The National Crime Agency publishes statistics on referrals into the National Referral Mechanism on a quarterly basis, which includes the breakdown of referrals for children by exploitation type. Criminal exploitation is recorded as a sub category of labour exploitation and includes exploitation such as county lines and cannabis cultivation.
The latest published statistics can be found at: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics
Asked by: Ann Coffey (The Independent Group for Change - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Children looked after in England including adoption: 2016 to 2017 statistics published in September 2017, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the number of looked-after children who were removed from their placement at the request of their carer due to their behaviour rose from 940 to 1,370 between March 2016 and March 2017.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Information on the reasons looked after children were removed from their placements is published as experimental statistics in the statistical first release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption’. This information was collected for the first time in 2016 and so comparisons between years should be treated with caution.
The information shows that in 2016, 940 placements in secure units, children’s homes and semi-independent living accommodation were identified as changing because the carer requested the change due to the child’s behaviour. In 2017, this figure was 1,370 but in the same year we saw a drop in placements of that type which ended due to “other” reasons. Feedback from local authorities has identified improved recording of the reasons for placement changes so that more placements are coded under their correct reason rather than “other”. The evidence does not necessarily point to a real increase in the number of placements ending either at the request of the carer due to the child’s behaviour or at the request of the child.
Asked by: Ann Coffey (The Independent Group for Change - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Children looked after in England including adoption: 2016 to 2017 statistics published in September 2017, what assessment he has made of reasons for the increase in the number of looked after children placed in care homes, secure units and hostels who were removed from their placement at the request of the child between March 2016 to March 2017.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Information on the reasons looked after children were removed from their placements is published as experimental statistics in the statistical first release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption’. This information was collected for the first time in 2016 and so comparisons between years should be treated with caution.
The information shows that in 2016, 940 placements in secure units, children’s homes and semi-independent living accommodation were identified as changing because the carer requested the change due to the child’s behaviour. In 2017, this figure was 1,370 but in the same year we saw a drop in placements of that type which ended due to “other” reasons. Feedback from local authorities has identified improved recording of the reasons for placement changes so that more placements are coded under their correct reason rather than “other”. The evidence does not necessarily point to a real increase in the number of placements ending either at the request of the carer due to the child’s behaviour or at the request of the child.
Asked by: Ann Coffey (The Independent Group for Change - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to Greater Manchester Combined Authority's bid for funding from the Children's Social Care Innovation Programme.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has submitted a request to the department for innovation funding, separate to the Innovation Programme bidding process. Their proposals are part of discussions linked to their Devolution Deal and the commitment they made to a full review of their children’s services across the ten local authorities. Minsters will make a decision based on the potential for improved outcomes for children, value for money, and genuine innovation. GMCA will be informed of the minister’s decision in due course.