3 CHILD
PROTECTION AND
WELLBEING
15. We have undertaken a range of inquiries in this
important area, looking at issues from the welfare of migrant
children to the regulation of residential children's homes.
CHILD
PROTECTION
16. In 2012 we published a major report on child
protection, which focused on three specific issues—neglect,
older children, and the thresholds for intervention.[16]
In this report we made many recommendations for change, asking
the Government to:
· commission research to examine how neglect
was classified by local authorities, and update guidance for frontline
professionals in order to broaden understanding of the long term
causes of neglect,
· ensure that all those involved in child
protection understood different forms of child abuse and worked
together more effectively to combat it
· develop better monitoring of how thresholds
are applied and greater use of early help to move away from thresholds
altogether.
17. Our most important recommendation asked the Government
to review the support offered by the child protection system to
older children and consult on proposals for re-shaping services
to meet the needs of this very vulnerable group. Sadly, although
the Government accepted most of our recommendations, it did not
agree to such a review.[17]
We continued to press for a change of heart throughout the Parliament.[18]
18. We also recommended that the Government promote
a more positive image of care to encourage public awareness of
the fact that being taken into care can be of great benefit to
children. The then Secretary of State's first major speech on
child protection in November 2012 responded directly to this recommendation,
describing our report as an "excellent analysis which richly
repays reading".[19]
16+ CARE
OPTIONS
19. During the course of our 2013-14 inquiry into
residential children's homes,[20]
the difficulties faced by older children in the care system resurfaced
and we came across stark evidence of the inadequacy of the accommodation
in which some of them were placed. As a result, we conducted an
inquiry into 16 plus care options, examining the safety and suitability
of "other arrangements" made for older children.[21]
We concluded that this sector needed to be better regulated, with
individual inspections of properties. Our inquiry also looked
at the use of bed and breakfast accommodation to house young people
in care. What we heard from young people led us to urge the Government
to introduce an outright ban on the practice of housing young
people in care in B&Bs. Finally, we also recommended that
young people living in residential care homes be entitled to remain
beyond the age of 18, asking the Government to apply "Staying
Put" arrangements to these circumstances, as they already
do with those in foster care.
20. It was clear from the Government response that
the needs of these children are being taken seriously and that
there is a genuine commitment amongst Ministers to improve their
experience of care. We were pleased that the Government accepted
a number of our recommendations, such as limiting emergency placements
in B&Bs to two working days and reminding local authorities
of their statutory duty to postpone unnecessary and disruptive
changes to children's placements during Key Stage 4.[22]
Nevertheless, we were disappointed that the Government was not
willing to move faster to accept our recommendations on the regulation
of accommodation and on banning B&Bs for young people in care.
We therefore secured time on the Floor of the House for a debate
on 27 January 2015 on our report and the Government's response.
Members from all parties took part, and the House agreed the following
motion:
That this House notes the Second Report from
the Education Committee, Into independence, not out of care: 16
plus care options, HC 259, and the Government's response, HC 647;
welcomes the progress made and the commitment to improve the care
provided to these vulnerable young people shown in the Government's
response; regrets that the Government has not gone further by
exploring with local authorities how to ban the use of bed and
breakfast accommodation for this age group and by moving to inspect
and regulate all accommodation provided to children in care; and
calls on the Government to do all it can to improve the accommodation
and care given to these young people.[23]
We urge whoever is in Government from May 2015 to
reconsider this issue.
OVERSIGHT
OF CARE
PROVIDERS
21. Our other major report in this area looked at
the role and performance of Ofsted.[24]
In response to the increasing diversity of institutions for which
Ofsted is responsible, we concluded that Ofsted had grown too
big to discharge its functions efficiently. We recommended that
Ofsted should be divided into two new organisations—the
Inspectorate for Education and the Inspectorate for Children's
Care. Although the Government accepted a number of our recommendations
it did not agree that Ofsted's functions should be separated.
Again we consider this a priority for the next Parliament.
16 Education Committee, Fourth Report of Session 2012-13,
Children First: the child protection system in England, HC 137 Back
17
Education Committee, Fourth Special Report of Session 2012-13,
Children First: the child protection system in England: Responses from the Government and Ofsted to the Committee's Fourth Report of Session 2012-13,
HC 993 Back
18
E.g. Oral evidence taken on 18 December 2013, HC (2013-14) 859;
Letter from the Secretary of State for Education to the Committee,
January 2014 Back
19
'The failure of child protection and the need for a fresh start',
DfE, 19 November 2012 Back
20
Education Committee, Sixth Report of Session 2013-14, Residential Children's Homes,
HC 716 Back
21
Education Committee, Second Report of Session 2014-15, Into independence, not out of care: 16 plus care options,
HC 259 Back
22
Education Committee, Third Special Report of Session 2014-15,
Into independence, not out of care: 16 plus care options: Government Response to the Committee's Second Report of Session 2014-15,
HC 259 Back
23
HC Deb, 27 January 2015, col 799 Back
24
Education Committee, Second Report of Session 2010-12, The Role and Performance of Ofsted,
HC 570-I Back
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