Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to work with the Department for Health to ensure that new arrangements for transition and access to preventative support under the Care Act 2014 benefit young people who have care and support needs and are leaving care.

Officials from the Department for Education work closely with the Department of Health on initiatives to support the transition of young people, including care leavers, to adult care and support. Past examples include: the development of statutory guidance for the transition provisions in the Care Act, which was published last month, the first cross-Government care leavers’ strategy in 2013 and our recent ‘one year on’ report which sets out how we have met the commitments in the strategy.

Joint working between the two Departments in this important area is set to continue. For example, the Departments are currently working together to revise statutory guidance on promoting the health and well-being of looked-after children. This is due to be finalised in spring 2015 and we will jointly explore other ways in which we can help the sector implement the transition provisions in the Care Act.