Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps with local authorities to help reduce the number of moves made by children in the care system.

The Department believes that every child should experience a stable loving home during their time in care. There are many factors that contribute to placement instability and we are now collecting data to help understand the reason for placement changes. The data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/53b32118-528e-4015-777b-08dab100bfc2.

It is important to note that some placement moves are necessary, particularly when part of a plan to find a longer term or permanent home for a child. Planned moves are often in the best interests of the child. A first placement may be organised at short notice due to an emergency and may not be a perfect fit, or a child may need a short-term placement for specialist care.

To improve placement stability, the department has invested in the Mockingbird Family Model, which is an innovative approach to strengthening the delivery of foster care and reducing placement breakdown. Since 2014, the department has provided over £8 million to help a total of 58 local authorities across the country embed the Mockingbird programme. £1.7 million of this was provided as part of the Covid Regional Recovery Fund.

Recognising the urgency of action in placement sufficiency, the department will prioritise working with local authorities to recruit more foster carers. This will include pathfinder local recruitment campaigns that build towards a national programme, to help ensure those carers approved are the right match for children coming into care and children have access to the right placements at the right time.