Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of looked-after children being placed 20 miles or more outside the boundary of their local authority.

The government is clear that the needs of the child are paramount when making decisions about the right care placement. Local councils have a statutory duty to consider the right placement for each child and take into account a number of factors, one of which is placement area. Sometimes circumstances make it the right decision for a local council to identify a placement outside of the child’s local area, for example when a child is at risk from child sexual exploitation, trafficking or gang violence or when they need very specialist care.

Out of area placements require approval from the Director of Children’s Services, and Ofsted will challenge local councils where they believe poor out of area placement are being made. The government is funding Innovation Programme pilots for residential care in areas where demand for residential places outstrips supply. We are also setting up a Residential Care Leadership Board, which will bring together representatives from local councils and providers to explore how to improve commissioning of children’s residential placements. As part of this work we expect the Board to assess data on the use of out of area placements.