Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to protect looked after children living in privately-run children's homes from been moved from their homes (a) at short notice and (b) at short notice in the event of a home's closure in cases other than necessary to safeguard and promote the welfare of affected children.

The department recognises the impact that unplanned short notice moves can have on looked after children. Both the Independent Care Review and the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) report made recommendations around the commissioning of care placements. In Stable Homes, Built on Love, the department set out our response to these reports and our plans to transform children’s social care. The Children’s social care Stable Homes, Built On Love consultation can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1147317/Children_s_social_care_stable_homes_consultation_February_2023.pdf.

To support local authorities to meet their statutory duty to ensure there is sufficient provision for children in their care, the department has announced £259 million capital funding to maintain capacity and expand provision in both secure and open children’s homes that provide high-quality and safe homes for some of our most vulnerable children and young people across England.

To ensure the resilience of both independent fostering agencies and children’s homes providers, we are working with Ofsted and the sector to develop plans for a financial oversight regime to increase transparency and prevent sudden market exit which would disrupt the lives of children living there.

As announced in Stable Homes, Built on Love, the department is also investing up to £10 million to develop Regional Care Co-Operatives (RCCs) in two pathfinder areas to plan, commission and deliver children’s social care placements. RCCs will be able to develop a wide range of placements to meet children’s needs better. This, in turn, should lead to improved placements stability.

We recognise that recruiting staff with the right skills and retaining staff is a challenge for the residential childcare sector.

Stable Homes, Built on Love is clear that we are exploring the Care Review’s recommendations for supporting the children’s homes workforce, namely through a leadership programme to recruit new talent to the sector and the professional registration of the workforce.