Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to extend data collection for care leavers aged 22-25 under its staying put policy.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Staying Put duty requires local authorities to support young people to continue living with their former foster carers up to age 21, where both parties want this. The government does not therefore collect Staying Put related data for care leavers aged 22-25 years.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Care Leaver Covenant announced by his Department in October 2018, how many placements for (a) work experience, (b) internships and (c) apprenticeships have been made available to young care leavers under that strategy to date.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As of 14 March 2019, 75 organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors had signed the care leaver covenant and published their offers to care leavers. All covenant offers are available to view at: https://mycovenant.org.uk/featured-signatories/. In addition, each government department has set out its offer to care leavers, copies of which have been published on GOV.UK. Spectra First, the government’s delivery partner for the care leaver covenant, is currently working with a number of other organisations which have signed a statement of intent confirming that they will provide opportunities to care leavers, but where the detail of their offer has not been finalised.
The aim of the care leaver covenant is to secure offers for care leavers that will support them to achieve one or more of the 5 outcomes set out in the cross-government care leaver strategy – Keep on Caring – one of which is to be engaged in education, employment or training. From the 75 organisations that have signed the covenant so far, employment offers include:
In addition, PGL (a provider of activity holidays for children and young people) has over 1,000 jobs in their summer camps in 2019 and has indicated that they would strongly encourage care leavers to apply for these vacancies. The government is leading the way through its civil service care leaver internship scheme, which in 2019 is providing 75 12-month paid internships across 18 government departments.
Other (non-employment-related) offers of support include: enhanced support packages for care leavers from universities and further education colleges, and offers of workshops/training on areas such as money management and maintaining a tenancy.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Care Leaver Covenant announced by his Department in October 2018, how many organisations have signed up to offer placement opportunities to young care leavers.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As of 14 March 2019, 75 organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors had signed the care leaver covenant and published their offers to care leavers. All covenant offers are available to view at: https://mycovenant.org.uk/featured-signatories/. In addition, each government department has set out its offer to care leavers, copies of which have been published on GOV.UK. Spectra First, the government’s delivery partner for the care leaver covenant, is currently working with a number of other organisations which have signed a statement of intent confirming that they will provide opportunities to care leavers, but where the detail of their offer has not been finalised.
The aim of the care leaver covenant is to secure offers for care leavers that will support them to achieve one or more of the 5 outcomes set out in the cross-government care leaver strategy – Keep on Caring – one of which is to be engaged in education, employment or training. From the 75 organisations that have signed the covenant so far, employment offers include:
In addition, PGL (a provider of activity holidays for children and young people) has over 1,000 jobs in their summer camps in 2019 and has indicated that they would strongly encourage care leavers to apply for these vacancies. The government is leading the way through its civil service care leaver internship scheme, which in 2019 is providing 75 12-month paid internships across 18 government departments.
Other (non-employment-related) offers of support include: enhanced support packages for care leavers from universities and further education colleges, and offers of workshops/training on areas such as money management and maintaining a tenancy.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on (a) increasing the number of and (b) improving support for foster carers since the Fostering better outcomes report published in July 2018.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
‘Fostering Better Outcomes’ set out our commitment to improving the lives of children in foster care, including making sure there are sufficient foster parents to meet the needs of children, and that foster parents have access to the support they need. Whilst achieving this is a long-term strategy and requires everyone in the system to work together to bring about real improvements for foster parents and the children for whom they care, we have already made significant progress towards our commitments, including the following points:
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many care leavers aged 19-21 years old have had contact with a personal adviser in each local authority area in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
I refer the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole to the answer I gave on 12 March 2019 to Question 228093.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made on establishing the new National Stability Forum for Children’s Social Care; how the members of that Forum were selected; and what the terms of reference are for that Forum.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The National Stability Forum was established in 2018 and had its first meeting in October 2018. It has since met in December 2018 and March 2019. The members are:
The membership has been drawn from sector bodies, and other individuals or organisations may be invited to attend meetings from time to time. The Chair will review the membership annually.
The terms of reference are attached.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the National Stability Forum for Children’s Social Care is working to engage stakeholders across the sector; how that Forum has promoted effective practice and delivery; and whether that Forum has presented any recommendations for taking a national policy approach to improving looked-after children’s outcomes.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The membership of the National Stability Forum (NSF) has been established with the aim of improving stability for all children in the orbit of the care system. Its members are drawn from sector bodies, which engage with and reach out to stakeholders. Other individuals and organisations may be invited to attend meetings from time to time. Part of the NSF’s core role is to promote a clear message about the importance of stability for children in the care system.
To date, the NSF has reviewed a range of publicly available data on children in care to better understand how the care system is promoting stability and permanence and has focused initial discussions on the care placement market. The NSF has also shaped and endorsed the fostering seed-funding, which was a commitment government made following the Foster Care Review, to take steps to address the challenges in sufficient placements in all areas and for all levels of need.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many care leavers aged 22-25 years old there are in the Poole Council area.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many care leavers aged 22-25 years old there are in the Dorset County Council area.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many care leavers aged 22-25 years old have had contact with a personal adviser in each local authority area in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The information requested is not held centrally.