Second Report - Educational poverty: how children in residential care have been let down and what to do about it

Select Committee

Education Committee HC 57 8 July 2022

Report Status Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations 59 items (36 recs)

Source View on Parliament website

Government Response (AI assessment · 57 of 59 classified)

Accepted 14

Accepted in Part 2

Acknowledged 13

Deferred 21

Not Addressed 5

Rejected 2

Recommendations

8 results

7 Acknowledged

Processes to scrutinise how local authorities are spending their Pupil Premium Plus grant are insufficient.

Recommendation

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 Summary

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

14 Acknowledged

Para 45

Under section 497 of the Education Act 1996, the Secretary of State has the power...

Recommendation

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 Summary

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

17 Acknowledged

Para 48

The Department must introduce a reporting and accountability requirement for local authorities to provide data...

Recommendation

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 Summary

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

19 Acknowledged

Para 50

Where the involvement of the Schools Adjudicator is required for admissions decisions for looked-after children,...

Recommendation

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 Summary

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

43 Acknowledged

Para 107

All looked-after children must have an independent advocate whose function is to champion their best...

Recommendation

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 Summary

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

45 Acknowledged

The Government must also increase its investment in SEND provision to ensure that children in...

Recommendation

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 Summary

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

57 Acknowledged

Para 135

The Department must set out their response to the £2 billion expenditure proposed by The...

Recommendation

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 Summary

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

58 Acknowledged

Para 136

For far too long, some private providers have extracted significant profits from the public purse,...

Recommendation

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 Summary

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

Conclusions (7) Observations and findings — click to expand

16 Conclusion

The needs of looked-after pupils do not suddenly cease to exist when they turn

18 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 49

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 Summary

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.

22 Conclusion

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 Schools Adjudicator when the admissions code is breached. And the …

50 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 120

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 living independently. This rate is not designed with the needs …

Government Response Summary

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.

55 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 133

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 spending over the last decade. Short-changing early intervention is a …

Government Response Summary

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.

56 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 134

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 essential support for children at the crisis end. The independent …

Government Response Summary

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.

59 Conclusion Acknowledged

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 Calcot, their children’s homes had been rated good or outstanding …

Government Response Summary

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.