Children in Care

(asked on 25th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's press release, Unregulated accommodation banned for vulnerable children under 16, published on 19 February 2021, who made the decision to change policy on unregulated care; which organisations contributed to the consultation ahead of that policy change; which organisations consulted were (a) in favour and (b) against the change; and how many of those organisations that were in favour of the change are in receipt of contracts or financial awards from his Department.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 2nd March 2021

Every child in the care system deserves to live-in a high-quality setting that meets their needs and keeps them safe. Anything less is unacceptable. Local authorities have statutory duties to meet the needs of children whom they look after and to ensure that there is sufficient provision.

We are clear that independent and semi-independent provision has an important role to play in the care system, where it is high quality and meets the needs of older children. However, we know that reform is needed to improve the quality of this provision and to ensure that placement practice is appropriate. That is why, following our consultation last year – through which we received views from over 230 respondents and 160 care experienced young people – we will be proceeding with ambitious measures to do just this.

These settings cannot meet the needs of children under the age of 16. These children are too young to be placed in independent and semi-independent provision and should be placed in foster care or children’s homes – that is why we are banning the practice from September 2021. Over three quarters of respondents to our consultation supported this ban.

The government will also introduce national standards for unregulated settings that are accommodating 16 and 17 year old children in care and care leavers, to raise the bar for the quality of this provision and ensure consistency across the country. The department will shortly launch a consultation on these new national standards which will ensure that, as more older children come into the care system, a high-quality option is available where they can receive the support they need to prepare for adult life. Over three quarters of respondents to our consultation were positive about the introduction of national standards.

The government will also be moving forward with plans for legislating to give Ofsted new powers to take enforcement action against illegal unregistered providers. This will enable Ofsted to take quicker action to register or close down these homes, building on their existing powers to prosecute providers operating without the correct registration and strengthening the options available to them. 85% of respondents to our consultation supported this proposal.

Alongside our response to the consultation, the department published an analysis of the responses we received to the consultation: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/962725/Unregulated_childcare_provision_-_Analytical_Report_Final1.pdf.This breaks down support for the proposals by type of organisation.

We have provided a list attached to this response of the organisations who responded to the consultation. There are 180 organisations on this list. This list does not tally with the total number of responses received to the consultation as some responses were made by individuals and some organisations responded multiple times from different positions within the organisation. 66 of the organisations named in the list provided currently hold an active grant or contract with the Department for Education.

We have considered your request to provide a breakdown of how each individual organisation responded to each policy proposal in the consultation, and whether those in favour of the measures are in receipt of a grant or contract. This breakdown of information is not readily available and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

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