Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to require a placing local authority to introduce a procedure for when young people are placed in another local authority area for that local authority to be informed of the young person’s circumstances and needs and to jointly assess the suitability of the placement and the risk exposure of the young person; and whether they have any plans to introduce such a requirement.

Where local authorities are placing a young person out of area, there are clear statutory requirements in place to safeguard young people. These require the placing authority to inform the host authority before confirming the placement, and to check whether the host authority is aware of any concerns about the setting.

The statutory responsibilities for looked after children remain with the placing local authority, and Directors of Children’s Services must approve all distant placements.

As a lack of sufficient placements to meet young people’s needs can lead to children being placed out of area, we are investing part of our £200 million Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme in projects in London, where demand for placements outstrips supply. This would also help to increase councils’ capacity so that fewer children are placed far away from home.

Where there is a dispute between local authorities about who should have responsibility for a looked after child, the ordinary residence determination process provides a mechanism to resolve this.

The department has also launched the Boarding School Partnerships (BSP) to encourage boarding school placements for children in care and those on the edge of care, where it was in the best interests of the child. The BSP has been working with the boarding schools sector to provide a supply of places to local authorities supported by bursaries.