Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have been placed in secure children’s homes in each month in each of the last three years.
As per the data published in the ‘Children accommodated in Secure Children’s Homes’ (SCHs) statistics release, a breakdown of the number of children that were accommodated in SCHs is provided below:
Figures relate to the position on 31 March each year, except for 2020 when the reference date was changed to 29 February to reflect the position in secure children's homes before COVID-19 and the national lockdown.
The figures include both secure welfare and justice placements. Children can be placed in secure children's homes either by local authorities or the Youth Custody Service (YCS). The YCS place vulnerable children when they are remanded to custody by the courts or are serving a custodial sentence. Local authorities place children when no other type of placement can keep them safe as they are a significant risk to themselves or others.
A monthly breakdown of children placed in an SCH via the welfare route is not available. A monthly breakdown of the number of children admitted into secure homes who have been sentenced or remanded by a criminal court has been included in the attached table.