Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact on local public services of accommodating children placed in residential care from outside the local authority area.

The government recognises that out-of-area placements can place additional demands on local public services, including education, health, safeguarding and policing.

Care planning and placement guidance recognises that children placed at a distance from their home community may require additional coordination between agencies and local authorities to ensure their needs are met and they are kept safe. Local authorities should notify receiving authorities when making out-of-area placements to support effective safeguarding and service coordination.

To reduce reliance on placements far from home, the government is investing £560 million between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to expand children's homes and foster care capacity and is introducing Regional Care Cooperatives (RCCs). Placement shortages are a key driver of children being placed in homes far from where they live. RCCs will look to improve this by increasing local and regional sufficiency and making more places available locally for children who need them.