Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what date he informed the Children’s Commissioner for England that children’s social care regulations were being amended; and whether the Commissioner was able to contribute to those changes.

The department shared a list of the children’s social care regulation changes with the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) on 16 April 2020 and provided further detail of the changes in response to the OCC’s questions.

The OCC has also commented on the revised COVID-19 guidance for local authorities on children’s social care. The guidance provides information on the regulation changes and is due to be published shortly.

The department shared the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 with key stakeholders, including the Children’s Commissioner, when they were published on 23 April 2020. The regulations and guidance will be under continuous review, in close co-operation with the sector.