To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to end the use of illegal accommodation for children in care and secure sufficient regulated care.
My Lords, the Government are clear: unregistered placements must stop. Powers in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will allow Ofsted to issue monetary penalties, enabling faster action against unregistered providers. We are investing £560 million in capital funding up to 2029-30 to increase appropriate registered placements, including through registered regional care co-operatives. We will strengthen kinship care and invest £2.4 billion in the families first partnership programme to support families, keeping them together, thereby reducing residential demand that is driving reliance on unregistered placements.
I thank the Minister for that Answer. It should shame all of us in this country that for many years, our system for protecting the most vulnerable children has been and is pushing hundreds of them each year into unregistered homes—illegal homes that are not inspected. Addressing this, as the Minister says, is very complex: it involves kinship care and resource regulation. I welcome the Government’s commitment to clamping down on the growing unregulated sector. What are the Government’s plans specifically to expand foster care, which is a crucial part of alleviating the pressure on local authorities that leads to the growth in unregulated places?
I thank my noble friend for all the work he does in this area, regularly raising its profile. I assure him and noble Lords that places in loving foster homes for children who need them is one of our top priorities. In February, we published an ambitious fostering action plan, setting out urgent steps to reverse the decline in foster care numbers and reform the system. This involves investment of more than £88 million over the next two years and includes England-wide action, enhanced regional collaboration, a £12.4 million intervention fund and investment in foster care support and retention.
Further to the Question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Wood, if we are to reduce the use of illegal accommodation, we need to provide more, safer and better accommodation. The Minister may know that some organisations, such as Home for Good, provide alternatives to hard-pressed local authority accommodation, and they do so with very strong outcomes and at a fraction of the cost of local authority provision. Will she do all she can to encourage organisations like Home for Good to provide these alternatives for vulnerable teenagers currently in care?
I thank the noble Lord, particularly for focusing on outcomes. That is the issue we face: too many young people who go through the care system do not have good outcomes, and we absolutely must address this. I welcome his highlighting the innovative approaches to providing supportive family environments for young people, giving them the stability and support they need. I absolutely support his request.
Does the Minister agree that care is often the only time when a lot of people who come from disturbed family lives can get their hands on some social mobility? I would like the Minister to up the idea that care is a great contributor to social justice.
The noble Lord touches on a very important and sensitive issue. Too often, young people are labelled by what happens to them. It is critical that, where we get the opportunity to engage with young people, we bring together their peer group to give support, along with all the other agencies that can offer help and guidance and steer them on their way forward. I absolutely agree that social justice should be at the heart of everything we do in this place.
My Lords, do this Government know exactly where these children are and where they are placed? Do we have the data available so that these children can be tracked down and protected in the way that they should be, and so that local authorities, where necessary, can step in to offer the support they need?
That, again, is an important point. The collection of data is critical, and local authorities need to submit that data annually. However, data is only as good as its interpretation and use. I am afraid that, although we have much data, we do not focus on what it is telling us and what we can do to bring improvements. That will be our focus going forward.
My Lords, my noble friend mentioned the importance of foster parents and their significance in this area. Prospective foster parents often complain about the length of time it takes to be both approved and recruited. Is there any way of speeding up the process, while of course maintaining necessary due diligence?
Generally speaking, in trying to analyse why the number of foster carers has dropped, it is around the general areas of support, which are so important. Of course, when people make such a life-changing decision, they want to get on with it, but it is absolutely paramount that this be done in a supportive way, making sure that all aspects are considered, and that potential foster carers are fully apprised of what they are embarking on and where the support is to help them in that journey.
My Lords, helping local authorities to reach their sufficiency duty is one of the best ways to reduce the use of illegal accommodation. One of the most effective ways of achieving this, both in cost to authorities and outcomes for children, is by increasing the number of kinship carers. May I therefore press the Minister on kinship care regulations? Will the Government commit to re-examining their position on those regulations and make it easier for children to enter into care with family members, which must be a brilliant outcome if it goes well?
The noble Earl is preaching to the converted. My experience, going back over 16 years now, has all been about enabling the kinship care model to grow, thrive and be recognised. It has not been recognised before, and I am delighted that in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, for the first time, it is getting the attention it deserves. When it is properly done, fully supported and with family group conferencing at the outset, it is a life-changer for children and young people themselves but also for their families. It is a very important area and we need to do more to support it.
The Minister has rightly made much of the Government’s commitment of more funds for kinship care. When are they are likely to report back to this House and the other place about the success of the pilot schemes they are now funding?
I will get back to the noble Lord; I do not have the exact timescales in front of me. The nine areas have been chosen and are up and running. The evidence they gather will be critical in enabling us to move forward and to make sure—hopefully in a very positive way—that all the lessons learned are available to children and families across the country.