Supplementary memorandum submitted by
Kevin Brennan MP, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Thank you for the opportunity to give evidence
to the Children's, Schools and Families Select Committee inquiry
into looked-after children. I promised to write on a number of
points and I am also taking this opportunity to provide further
information on some of the points the Committee was interested
in.
HEALTH OF
LOOKED-AFTER
CHILDREN
Improving the health of looked-after children
is vital to improving their life chances—we know that children
in care suffer higher proportions of health difficulties than
their peers. Care Matters: Time for Change set out a range
of proposals to improve their health and well-being, including
access to positive activities and a focus on improving their mental
and emotional health—a key problem for looked-after children—through
dedicated or targeted CAMHS provision.
Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), and other health
bodies, are key partners in improving outcomes for looked-after
children. They are required to act under section 10 of the Children
Act 2004 to co-operate with the local authority to improve all
five outcomes for children and young people. This duty was strengthened
by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007,
which placed a further duty on PCTs, as part of the Local Strategic
Partnership, to cooperate to agree and have regard to shared improvement
targets in their Local Area Agreement. We have made it clear that
looked-after children should be a priority for local areas and
their children's trust arrangements.
We made clear in the Care Matters White
Paper the Government's view that PCTs and other health services
have a key role in delivering effective services to looked-after
children. To reinforce this:
— we have introduced a new measure
in the local government National Indicator Set (NIS) on the emotional
and behavioral health of looked-after children. The NIS provides
local authorities, working with health and other partners, a framework
for determining priorities for local action;
— we will place guidance on promoting
the health of looked-after children on a statutory footing for
health bodies as well as local authorities—helping to ensure
that looked-after children receive the services that they need.
We will do this under sections 10(8) and 11(4) of the Children
Act 2004. Guidance issued in this way will cover Strategic Health
Authorities, Primary Care Trusts, NHS Trusts, NHS Foundation Trusts
and local authorities; and
— we will set out, in this statutory
guidance, how Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
should provide targeted or dedicated provision that appropriately
prioritises looked-after children.
CHILDREN'S
HOMES
You asked about the number of children's homes
and I can confirm there are currently around 2000 in England.
We discussed in particular the homes managed
by Sedgemoor and the potential impact on residents if private
equity providers withdraw their provision. We have been working
with Ofsted to make sure any lessons that can be are learnt from
the collapse of Sedgemoor. However, we do believe a diverse provider
base is necessary to meet the needs of looked-after children and
young people. Safeguards are in place: children's homes are regulated
by HMCI; and before closure of a home the provider is required
to apply to HMCI for cancellation of their registration in writing
which must include reasons for the application. The provider is
required to give notice of their intention to close the home three
months in advance of the proposed date of closure and should also,
at that time, notify the local authority for the area in which
the home is situated. The responsibility for promoting the welfare
and safeguarding children placed in children's homes rests both
on the local authority that looks after the child and on the local
authority for the area in which the home is situated.
There is a clear statutory framework that governs
the local authority's approach to choosing a placement and also
that sets out basic requirements with which it must comply when
a placement is made. I was asked about the current notification
requirements on local authorities placing a child in a home in
another local authority: under regulation 5 of the Arrangements
for Placement of Children (General) Regulations 1991 the placing
authority must, before the placement is made (or as soon as reasonably
practicable thereafter, in case of emergency) notify, amongst
others, the local authority and Primary Care Trust both for the
area in which the child is living and the area in which the child
is to be placed.
CHILDREN IN
CUSTODY
The Committee was interested in the provisions
in clause 14 of the Bill and their impact on young people in custody.
Clause 14 makes explicit the duty on local authorities to arrange
for a representative (in most cases this will be a social worker
who is involved in the child's case) to visit all looked-after
children, wherever they may be living. This includes looked-after
children who are the subject of care orders and who are taken
into custody, as their sentence has no effect on their care status.
In addition, we will use the regulation making
power in clause 14 to extend the local authority's duty to visit
to those in custody who were "voluntary accommodated"
children but who lose looked-after status because they are no
longer accommodated by the local authority. This will ensure that
the local authorities have a continuing role in monitoring the
welfare of a child they formerly looked-after whilst the child
is in custody, and in planning services that the child may need
on release—which may include providing accommodation and
therefore "looking after" the child again or providing
support for the young person (as a child in need, under section
17 of the Children Act 1989) and their family in the community.
We intend to use the regulation-making power
in clause 14 (4) to set out the minimum frequency of these visits,
and to require, for example, that, where possible, the child is
seen alone and that a written record of the visit is made. We
will also set out in statutory guidance an expectation that the
local authority should appoint a social worker, or at least by
a person who is under the supervision of a qualified social worker,
to be its representative. If the child is in custody, we would
not expect the local authority to appoint a member of the Youth
Offending Team as its representative for these purposes.
PRIVATE FOSTERING
The Government believes current arrangements
offer an appropriate level of protection to privately fostered
children. However, in the Children Act 2004 we took the precaution
of providing for regulations to be made requiring the registration
of anyone proposing to foster a child privately. This was done
with the intention of using these powers if the evidence demonstrated
that the current arrangements could not offer sufficient protection
to privately fostered children. The powers will cease to have
effect in November 2008, if they have not been exercised before
then. We are proposing, through the Bill, to extend this period
by a further three years to November 2011.
We believe, and I understand that organisations
such as the British Association for Adoption and Fostering who
work extensively on private fostering agree, that we should seek
to ensure the current arrangements are operated effectively and
evaluate them more fully before deciding whether to introduce
a registration regime. It would not be in the interests either
of children or of those who work with them to do otherwise. Our
primary aim should be to ensure that there are fewer "hidden"
or high risk private fostering arrangements. It is not clear at
this point that registration would encourage more private foster
carers to come forward than at present—and indeed there
may be a risk that such a bureaucratic approach may be seen as
heavy handed and deter those private foster carers who offer welcome
help in some family situations.
RECENT GOVERNMENT
AMENDMENTS
The Committee may wish to note that the Government
tabled two significant amendments this week:
— Breaks for parents of disabled
children: we are placing a new duty on local authorities to
help parents caring for disabled children by giving them breaks
from their caring responsibilities.
— Securing sufficient accommodation
for looked-after children: we are introducing a new duty on
local authorities to take steps to secure sufficient accommodation
within their authority area that is appropriate for the needs
of the children in their care.
I am enclosing with this letter the letter Lord
Adonis has sent to Peers setting out the Government's thinking
on these amendments in addition to the letter Lord Adonis recently
sent to Peers when the Government tabled the amendments relating
to how children are accommodated. [37]
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Government will publish the implementation plan
for Care Matters very soon. The plan is being developed in partnership
with key delivery organisations including the Association of Directors
of Children's Services, the Local Government Association, the
NHS Confederation and the voluntary sector. Its focus will be
on the changes that are required at central, regional, and most
importantly, local level to make a real difference in children's
lives. It will include further detail about our proposed national
stocktake of progress as well as the planned targeted inspection
of services by Ofsted. It will be accompanied by a range of good
practice and training materials to help local areas begin the
process of embedding lasting change on the ground. I will ensure
members of the committee have copies of the plan when it is published
to further inform the Committee's inquiry.
Finally, I attach, as promised, local statistics
on looked-after children, covering your constituency, and that
of each committee member. [38]
I look forward to engaging further with you
as your inquiry progress.
Kevin Brennan MP
March 2008
37 Not printed. Back
38
Not printed. Back
| 
