Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to (1) monitor, and (2) oversee, local authorities’ plans for complying with their responsibilities under section 22G of the Children Act 1989.

Local authorities have a statutory duty set out in Section 22G of the Children’s Act 1989 to make sure that there is sufficient provision in their area to meet the needs of children in their care. The government published statutory guidance on the sufficiency duty in 2010, which includes commissioning places from private or voluntary sector providers as required.

Ofsted is responsible for assessing the performance of children’s social care services delivered by local authorities, through the Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services framework. When Ofsted inspects local authorities, they look at the experiences and progress of children in care. To ensure children and young people are safe and settled where they live, Ofsted assesses if a local authority has a sufficiently wide range and choice of placements available to meet the needs of children in care.

The department is supporting local authorities to meet their statutory duty with £259 million of capital funding to maintain capacity and expand provision in both secure and open children’s homes. This will provide high quality, safe homes for some of our most vulnerable children and young people. We are also investing over £142 million by 2024/25 to introduce new national standards, and Ofsted registration and inspection requirements for unregulated supported accommodation.

Additionally, the department is investing £27 million to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme, and £10 million to develop two Regional Care Co-operative pathfinders to plan, commission and deliver children’s social care placements across a region.