Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced new plans to prevent the placement of children aged under 16 in unregulated accommodation.
Unregulated accommodation, which provides accommodation not care, will also be subject to new standards outlined in the plans.
An investigation by Newsnight for the BBC highlighted the expanding market for semi-independent accommodation for those aged 16+ – particularly adolescents for whom it has been difficult to find places in registered children’s homes or with families. The Department for Education (DfE) has since published research seeking to understand the increase in the use of unregistered and unregulated provisions for children in care amidst concerns about quality.
The President of the Family Division issued Practice Guidance for children living in unregistered children’s homes in November 2019.
As part of a consultation, proposals to stop children in care from being placed in inappropriate accommodation will be published, aiming to tackle growing concerns about the number of under-16s at risk of exploitation.
The Government will also introduce national standards for unregulated accommodation as part of the new proposals, aiming to improve the quality and security of the placements.
The consultation, which closes in April 2020, also proposes new powers for OFSTED to take action against illegal, unregistered providers as well as measures requiring local police and councils to work together before placing children in unregulated accommodation out of their area. They want to put the interests of the young people concerned at the heart of any decisions made.
Mr Williamson confirmed that the review, which is taking place as a matter of urgency ahead of the wider care review promised in the Tory manifesto, will be independently led. It will look across the gamut of children’s social care with the aim of better protecting, supporting, and improving the outcomes of vulnerable children and young people.
“There are no circumstances where a child under 16 should be placed in accommodation that does not keep them safe. That is unacceptable and I am taking urgent action to end this practice and drive up the quality of care provided to all vulnerable children,” said the Education Secretary.
“Social workers and council chiefs have to make difficult decisions about the children in their care, so it’s important that we agree an ambitious approach to these important reforms to bring about lasting change in children’s social care.”
The consultation will allow the sector to have a say in the way new measures are brought forward and implemented, including:
- banning the use of independent and semi-independent placements for children and young people under the age of 16;
- driving up the quality of support offered in independent and semi-independent provision, through the introduction of national standards;
- ensuring young people’s interests are appropriately represented by their Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO);
- introducing new measures so that local authorities and local police forces liaise before a placement in this provision is made; and
- giving Ofsted new legal powers to crack down on illegal providers.
At the moment more than 6,000 children and young people are living in unregulated accommodation in England, with up to 100 under-16s living in unregulated provision at any one time.
OFSTED will be able to take legal action prosecution and issue enforcement notices under the new provisions. This will result in illegal providers either being forced to close, register, or face a penalty.
The Education Secretary sent a letter to local authorities in November 2019, outlining his concern about the provision of accommodation for under-16s, asking them to ensure all children in their area are in suitable homes and safe.
Chief Executive at the Children’s Society, Mark Russell, said: “The numbers of children being placed in unregulated accommodation is on the rise, making this consultation both timely and essential. We are pleased the government is looking carefully at this issue and recognising the wider issues at play, such as the shortage of places where they’re most needed.”
Full details of the announcement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/strict-new-measures-to-protect-vulnerable-children-in-care.
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