Children's Homes

Education Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 15 Mar 2021 Closed: 16 Feb 2023 Parliament page
The inquiry will focus on children’s homes. It will examine a number of areas including educational outcomes and destinations, the quality of support provided by children’s homes, unregulated provision, rates of criminalisation, the sufficiency of children’s home places, and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read the call for evidence … Read more
36 Recommendations
23 Conclusions
1 Report
6 Oral sessions
2 Letters
6 Events
Activity timeline 16 events
10 Nov
2022
Report published
6 Sep
2022
Correspondence
6 Sep
2022
Correspondence
8 Jul
2022
Report published
1 Mar
2022
Oral evidence
1 Mar
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
1 Feb
2022
Oral evidence
1 Feb
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
11 Jan
2022
Oral evidence
11 Jan
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
16 Nov
2021
Oral evidence
16 Nov
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
Oral evidence sessions 6 sessions
1 Mar 2022
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Children's Homes - Ministerial session
Fran Oram · Department for Education Will Quince · Department for Education
1 Feb 2022
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Children's Home - young people session
11 Jan 2022
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Children's Homes
Dame Rachel de Souza · Inspiration Trust Dame Rachel de Souza · Office of the Children's Commissioner for England Juliette Cammaerts · Office of the Children's Commissioner for England Yvette Stanley · Ofsted
16 Nov 2021
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Children's Homes - third session
Andrew Isaac · Children’s Services Development Group Charlotte Ramsden OBE · Association of Directors of Children’s Services Jonathan Whalley · St Christopher’s Fellowship Michelle Lee-Izu · Barnardo’s
19 Oct 2021
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Children's Homes - second session
Hannah McCowen · National Care Leavers Benchmarking Forum, and Catch 22 Mark Russell · The Children’s Society Patrick Ward · National Association of Virtual School Headteachers (NAVSH) Victoria Langer · Become
20 Jul 2021
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Children's Homes
Anne Longfield, Former Children’s Commissioner Josh MacAlister, Independent Review of Children’s Social Care The Rt Hon. the Lord Adonis
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Second Report - Educational poverty: how children in residential… HC 57 8 Jul 2022 59 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
14 results
Clear
1 Conclusion Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
We were highly concerned to be told by the Department that their most up-to-date data...
We were highly concerned to be told by the Department that their most up-to-date data on characteristics of children in children’s homes is from an ad-hoc 2016 data release—now seven years out of date.
Government Response
The government will publish the recommended breakdowns in the 2023 releases.
Department for Education
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2 Recommendation Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
The Department must annually publish statistics on looked-after children, disaggregated by placement type, including key...
The Department must annually publish statistics on looked-after children, disaggregated by placement type, including key metrics on gender, ethnicity, age, special educational needs, and rates of out-of-area placements. (Paragraph 6) Overcoming the odds: education outcomes and the lack of post-16 … Read more
Government Response
The Department will publish the recommended breakdowns in the 2023 releases, in conjunction with the department’s policy on confidentiality. They have committed to publishing additional stability analysis in November 2022.
Department for Education
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3 Conclusion Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
The Department’s data on the educational outcomes of children in care does not distinguish between...
The Department’s data on the educational outcomes of children in care does not distinguish between placement type. Existing data is not good enough, it does not provide the visibility into the education of children in care that we would expect … Read more
Government Response
The government commits to publishing the recommended breakdowns in the data in the 2023 releases.
Department for Education
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4 Recommendation Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
The Department must urgently tackle the black hole of data on the educational outcomes of...
The Department must urgently tackle the black hole of data on the educational outcomes of children in children’s homes. It must commit to annual data publication through a data dashboard on outcomes for looked-after children which is disaggregated by care … Read more
Government Response
The government commits to publishing the recommended data breakdowns on the educational outcomes of children in children's homes in the 2023 releases, in conjunction with the department's policy on confidentiality.
Department for Education
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12 Conclusion Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
The School Admissions Code is not working in the interests of looked-after children.
The School Admissions Code is not working in the interests of looked-after children. The admissions system is weighted in favour of schools, and against the interests of looked-after pupils. The absence of sanctions means it is a risk-free process for … Read more
Government Response
Looked-after children already have priority in school admissions, and guidance states that schools judged 'Good' or 'Outstanding' should be prioritised for their placement.
Department for Education
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13 Recommendation Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
The Department must take greater responsibility for policing the school admissions system to ensure it...
The Department must take greater responsibility for policing the school admissions system to ensure it is working in the interests of looked-after children. There must be a clear sanctions mechanism in place for schools who consistently refuse or delay admissions … Read more
Government Response
The government states that looked-after children already have priority in school admissions and that guidance prioritizes schools judged as 'Good' or 'Outstanding' by Ofsted, with exceptions for evidence-based reasons. They state children should never be placed in a school judged inadequate unless there are exceptional evidence-based reasons.
Department for Education
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20 Conclusion Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
All too often children in care face a David versus Goliath battle to gain admission...
All too often children in care face a David versus Goliath battle to gain admission to their local good or outstanding school. Despite the law clearly stating that good and outstanding schools should be prioritised for looked-after children, children in … Read more
Government Response
The government states that looked-after children have priority in school admissions and that statutory guidance prioritizes good and outstanding schools. They note there may be exceptional circumstances where it may be more appropriate that a looked after child is not placed in a school judged by Ofsted to be ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’.
Department for Education
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21 Recommendation Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
Responsibility and accountability for getting looked-after children into their most appropriate local good or outstanding...
Responsibility and accountability for getting looked-after children into their most appropriate local good or outstanding school should lie with the Virtual School Head.
Government Response
Looked-after children already have priority in school admissions, and guidance states that schools judged 'Good' or 'Outstanding' should be prioritised for their placement.
Department for Education
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25 Conclusion Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
Research by Ofsted has identified that of a sample of 2,600 children living in children’s...
Research by Ofsted has identified that of a sample of 2,600 children living in children’s homes, 9% of children in residential care are receiving ‘education’ in unregulated settings, and a further 6% are not in education, employment or training. The … Read more
Government Response
The government will publish breakdowns of data relating to looked-after children not in school in the 2023 releases.
Department for Education
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31 Recommendation Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
Before the start of the next academic year—at the very latest—the Department should issue robust...
Before the start of the next academic year—at the very latest—the Department should issue robust guidance on how the section 19 duty on local authorities to provide children with a suitable full-time education should be fulfilled by local authorities. Where … Read more
Government Response
The government states that regulations have been laid that mean no child under 16 can be placed in unregulated accommodation and that they have already committed to introduce national standards for supported accommodation for 16- and 17-year-olds overseen by Ofsted.
Department for Education
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39 Recommendation Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
The Department must take overall responsibility for monitoring the register of children not in school,...
The Department must take overall responsibility for monitoring the register of children not in school, and must set out clear and robust accountability for local authorities who fail to secure full-time places at good or outstanding DfE registered schools for … Read more
Government Response
The government states that looked-after children have priority in school admissions and that guidance prioritises schools judged to be good or outstanding, unless there are exceptional evidence-based reasons.
Department for Education
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47 Recommendation Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
The Department must publish education, employment and training outcomes data disaggregated by care placement type.
The Department must publish education, employment and training outcomes data disaggregated by care placement type. The absence of disaggregated data is a barrier to scrutiny and accountability and hinders the development of targeted, evidence- based interventions. Read more
Government Response
The government commits to publishing education, employment and training outcomes data disaggregated by care placement type in the 2023 releases.
Department for Education
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49 Recommendation Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
The Government must expand existing the existing Civil Service care leaver internship scheme and other...
The Government must expand existing the existing Civil Service care leaver internship scheme and other employment schemes, increasing the number of places so that more care leavers can take advantage of, and benefit from, these opportunities.
Government Response
The government states that the Civil Service care leaver internship scheme has enabled around 700 care leavers to take up posts and encourages departments to offer vacancies. They are keen to create similar opportunities in other public sector employers and highlight the role of the care leaver covenant.
Department for Education
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53 Conclusion Accepted
Second Report - Educational povert…
The current lack of statutory support for young people leaving residential care is deeply unjust.
The current lack of statutory support for young people leaving residential care is deeply unjust. The Department’s own evidence rightly acknowledges the “cliff- edge” transition from residential care to independent living at age 18. Staying Close offers a chance to … Read more
Government Response
The government has announced funding of £36 million over the next 3 years to extend the Staying Close programme and has asked the What Work’s Centre for Children’s Social Care (WWCSC) to evaluate its effectiveness.
Department for Education
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Government Response AI assessment · 57 of 36 classified
Accepted 14
Accepted in Part 2
Acknowledged 13
Deferred 21
Not Addressed 5
Rejected 2
Total 36 recs + 23 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
6 Sep 2022 Correspondence from the Schools Adjudicator on the Children’s Homes Report, dated 5 August
Parliament page
6 Sep 2022 Correspondence from Ofsted on Calcot Children’s Homes and safeguarding procedures, dated 4 August
Parliament page