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
View on parliament.uk
Children's Homes - Ministerial session
Fran Oram · Department for Education Will Quince · Department for Education
1 Feb 2022
View on parliament.uk
Children's Home - young people session
11 Jan 2022
View on parliament.uk
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
View on parliament.uk
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
View on parliament.uk
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
View on parliament.uk
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
15 results
Clear
7 Recommendation Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
Processes to scrutinise how local authorities are spending their Pupil Premium Plus grant are insufficient.
Processes to scrutinise how local authorities are spending their Pupil Premium Plus grant are insufficient. There must be strengthened accountability with clear penalties for local authorities who are not properly spending the grant on raising the educational attainment of looked-after … Read more
Government Response
The government will consider further changes to the guidance and specifically whether it should stipulate that the VSH must sign-off on all use of the funding and whether more detailed financial information should be included in the Virtual School Annual Report provided to Ofsted, but needs to be mindful of the unintended consequences of this on VSHs' capacity to effectively carry out their wider role. They are also considering the care review recommendations for greater accountability for VSHs on the educational attainment of children in care and care leavers up to age 25 through Ofsted’s ILAC framework.
Department for Education
View details
16 Conclusion
Second Report - Educational povert…
The needs of looked-after pupils do not suddenly cease to exist when they turn
The needs of looked-after pupils do not suddenly cease to exist when they turn
Department for Education
View details
14 Recommendation Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
Under section 497 of the Education Act 1996, the Secretary of State has the power...
Under section 497 of the Education Act 1996, the Secretary of State has the power to take legal action against local authorities who are not meeting their statutory duties 46 Educational poverty: how children in residential care have been let … Read more
Government Response
The Department will consider how its power under section 497 of the Education Act 1996 may be used more effectively where a local authority fails to ensure a looked-after child is able to access a school place.
Department for Education
View details
17 Recommendation Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
The Department must introduce a reporting and accountability requirement for local authorities to provide data...
The Department must introduce a reporting and accountability requirement for local authorities to provide data on how many admissions of looked-after children have been contested or refused by schools. It should be made mandatory for local authorities to report all … Read more
Government Response
The department recognizes the importance of data collection and publication and will consider how this might be done, including the cost and burden of any new reporting requirements on local authorities, but makes no firm commitment.
Department for Education
View details
18 Conclusion Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
Much more needs to be done to speed up school admissions for looked-after children.
Much more needs to be done to speed up school admissions for looked-after children. We heard from Ofsted that it can take “many months” for a local authority to go through the admissions adjudications process.
Government Response
The department agrees on the importance of timely school admissions for looked-after children and is working with the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) to explore how the timeliness of decision making can be improved, for example, by prioritizing cases involving looked-after children.
Department for Education
View details
19 Recommendation Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
Where the involvement of the Schools Adjudicator is required for admissions decisions for looked-after children,...
Where the involvement of the Schools Adjudicator is required for admissions decisions for looked-after children, these decisions must be made within a maximum 20-day timeframe.
Government Response
The department agrees on the importance of timely school admissions and is working with the Office of the Schools Adjudicator to explore how decision-making can be improved, but made no commitment to a 20-day timeframe.
Department for Education
View details
22 Conclusion
Second Report - Educational povert…
We have highlighted the need for clear sanctions for schools who refuse to admit looked-after...
We have highlighted the need for clear sanctions for schools who refuse to admit looked-after pupils, enforced through the impact on the school’s Ofsted judgement. We have also highlighted the need for much quicker decisions to be made by the … Read more
Department for Education
View details
43 Recommendation Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
All looked-after children must have an independent advocate whose function is to champion their best...
All looked-after children must have an independent advocate whose function is to champion their best interests, ensuring they are admitted to the best, most appropriate schools, and that they are fully supported to appeal to SEND tribunals where their Education, … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees that looked-after children need access to a trusted individual and states that it is the role of VSHs to provide this advocacy in respect of looked-after children’s education, but is looking at the recommendation alongside the broader package of recommendations made by the care review and is working at pace towards issuing a detailed implementation strategy.
Department for Education
View details
45 Recommendation Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
The Government must also increase its investment in SEND provision to ensure that children in...
The Government must also increase its investment in SEND provision to ensure that children in care, alongside all pupils with SEND, get the support they need to thrive in education. Children in care are more likely to have experienced educational … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the need for all pupils with SEND to get the support they need and highlights its investment in the SEND system. They state resources should be targeted more at strengthening early intervention and meeting the needs of children and young people at the right time, including children in care.
Department for Education
View details
50 Conclusion Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
Just 2% of care leavers go on to do an apprenticeship.
Just 2% of care leavers go on to do an apprenticeship. The apprenticeship wage rate— £4.81 per hour for apprentices aged 16–18 or aged 19 and over and in the first year of their apprenticeship—is prohibitive for young care leavers … Read more
Government Response
The government recognizes that care leavers face additional barriers to apprenticeships, which is why they introduced the £1,000 bursary for care leavers, but believes employers should pay apprentices wages.
Department for Education
View details
55 Conclusion Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
A record 80,850 children are in care.
A record 80,850 children are in care. Early intervention is key to tackling the needs of vulnerable families and children before they escalate. The record rise of children in care cannot be disconnected from the 48% reduction in early intervention … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the rising number of children in care and the reduction in early intervention spending. They reiterate existing investments in local services and vulnerable families but maintain that councils are best placed to decide how to spend their funding.
Department for Education
View details
56 Conclusion Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
Local authorities must tackle the imbalance between the 48% reduction in early intervention spending, and...
Local authorities must tackle the imbalance between the 48% reduction in early intervention spending, and the 34% rise in spending on costlier downstream interventions over the last decade. Local authorities cannot simply achieve this by reshuffling spending priorities and reducing … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the imbalance between early intervention and downstream spending and reiterates existing investments in local services and vulnerable families. They state that local councils are best placed to decide how to spend their available funding.
Department for Education
View details
57 Recommendation Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
The Department must set out their response to the £2 billion expenditure proposed by The...
The Department must set out their response to the £2 billion expenditure proposed by The independent review of children’s social care, indicating how much additional funding they believe is necessary to ensure the care system is fit for purpose, how … Read more
Government Response
The government states that it is carefully assessing the recommendations of the care review, including the recommendation to introduce a new funding formula for children's and young people's services, but provides no specifics on the funding request.
Department for Education
View details
58 Recommendation Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
For far too long, some private providers have extracted significant profits from the public purse,...
For far too long, some private providers have extracted significant profits from the public purse, operating under a monopoly market. At the same time, they have not demonstrated equivalent value for taxpayer money in terms of improved outcomes for the … Read more
Government Response
The government shares concerns that some providers are making excessive profits and are investing £259 million of capital funding to increase the number of places in open and secure children’s homes run by local authorities. The government will present the implementation strategy which will outline the detailed response to recommendations from both the care review and CMA report shortly.
Department for Education
View details
59 Conclusion Acknowledged
Second Report - Educational povert…
We continue to be extremely concerned by media reports of children’s homes— including the recent...
We continue to be extremely concerned by media reports of children’s homes— including the recent case of Calcot Services for Children—failing to meet the needs or ensure the safety of the vulnerable children in their care. In the case of … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges concerns about children's homes and states that the Minister met with Ofsted to discuss actions being taken. Ofsted will write to the Committee separately on the issue.
Department for Education
View details
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