Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children have been released from custody without a confirmed permanent address in the last 12 months.

Decisions on accommodation for children under the age of 18 who leave custody are taken at local level, so this data is not held centrally by MoJ. Local Authority-led Youth Offending Teams work closely with young offender institutions, secure training centres and secure children’s homes on accommodation arrangements so that any issues can be identified and resolved as early as possible before release. Arrangements for the child or young person’s accommodation are reviewed at regular intervals and in addition to the statutory ‘Duty To Refer’ requirements, local protocols have been developed to allow for cases of particular concern to be escalated within the relevant local authority. The Local Authority has a duty to accommodate children upon their release from custody.