Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the (a) recommendation on establishing a transitions support bank to centrally hold all funding available to care leavers and young people with Education, Health and Care plans after they reach 18 years old and (b) other recommendations in the Children’s Services Development Group’s Destination Unknown report; and if he will make a statement.

Local authorities are the primary corporate parents for looked after children and care leavers. They are responsible for making decisions about where children and young people live and what additional support that they need in order to make a successful transition to adulthood. The government believes that these decisions are best taken locally, based on local professionals’ judgements about what is needed for each child or young person, depending on their individual circumstances. We do not think it would be feasible for those decisions to be taken by a central team based in central government.

The government does recognise, however, that local authorities cannot do it all on their own. That is why it has established a cross-government Ministerial Board to consider how the government collectively can ensure that its policies and services recognise and respond to care leavers’ unique circumstances, and to drive improved outcomes for care leavers.

The government is also taking the lead in providing direct employment opportunities to care leavers, particularly through the Civil Service care leaver internship scheme. This year, the scheme is offering over 500 12-month paid internships to care leavers in over 20 government departments and agencies across the UK.

We also recognise that private businesses and other organisations, such as universities, have a role to play too. That is why we launched the Care Leaver Covenant, which provides a way for organisations from the private and voluntary sectors to set out their offer to care leavers. Details of the organisations that have signed the covenant and their published offers are available here:
https://mycovenant.org.uk/.

We are committed to improving the experiences and outcomes of care leavers through the Ministerial Board. It will address many of the concerns that are highlighted in the Children’s Services Development Group’s ‘Destination Unknown’ report. This will happen through the Ministerial Board’s focus on education, employment and training and addressing care leavers’ financial vulnerability.