04 April 2023
Your request
It's been 18 months since new rules came into place that guaranteed children aged under-16 would be housed in regulated accommodation where they receive day to day care.
Regulated accommodation, according to the Act, includes:
- a care home
- a hospital as defined in section 275(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006
- a residential family centre as defined in section 4(2) of the Care Standards Act
- a school within the meaning of section 4 of the Education Act 1996(4) providing accommodation that is not registered as a children's home
- an establishment that provides care and accommodation for children as a holiday scheme for disabled children as defined in regulation 2(1) of the Residential Holiday Schemes for Disabled Children (England) Regulations 2013
Under the new rules, children aged 16-18 are no longer guaranteed to be housed in accommodation where they receive day-to-day care and can instead be housed in independent or semi-independent accommodation where they instead receive support. This is also known as "unregulated" accommodation.
Please could you provide the following information. Please note there are four parts to my request.
- How many (i) care experienced children in your local authority aged 16-17 (inclusive) are currently housed in unregulated accommodation and (ii) how many unaccompanied asylum seeking children aged 16-17 (inclusive) are currently housed in unregulated accommodation.
Unregulated accommodation is sometimes known as independent accommodation or semi-independent accommodation.
By care experienced children I mean children who are known to the council and who have been living in foster care or residential accommodation or another form of regulated accommodation as outlined above.
By unregulated accommodation I mean accommodation for care experienced children aged 16 and over, where they can receive support but not care. Please use this article from Become Charity for more information on what defines unregulated accommodation.
It does not include foster homes, residential care, hospital settings, residential school settings.
How many care experienced children in your local authority aged 16-17 have gone missing between 18 February 2021 and 1 March 2023?
How many unaccompanied asylum seeking children in your local authority aged 16-17 have gone missing between 18 February 2021 and 1 March 2023?
Please can you provide information on what mechanisms are in place to ensure that children housed in independent or semi-independent accommodation are properly cared for. Information could be but is not limited to guidance for housing providers or landlords, guidance for social workers, guidance for children and young people.
Our response
16 and 17 year olds in Semi Independent Accommodation as at 27/02/2023: Care Experienced numbers - 41
16 and 17 year olds in Semi Independent Accommodation as at 27/02/2023: UASC numbers - 9
Missing* Care Experienced – 26. Note: These would have been young people who have gone missing or not returned to their accommodation for a short period of time, however none of these young people are currently missing.
Missing* UASC - less than 5
We are unable to provide precise figures when these are five or less due to the risk that individuals will be identified, as we are required to protect their identity under the Data Protection Act
In such circumstances sections 40(2) and (3) of the Freedom of Information Act apply. In this case, our view is that disclosure would breach the first data protection principle.
This states that personal data should be processed fairly and lawfully. It is the fairness aspect of this principle which, in our view, would be breached by disclosure. In such circumstances section 40 confers an absolute exemption on disclosure. There is, therefore, no public interest test to apply.
Note: These would have been young people who have gone missing or not returned to their accommodation for a short period of time, however none of these young people are currently missing.
Provider Quality Assurance function currently – Due diligence and Provider on-boarding processes, Provider Quality Assurance response including visits as required and annual and ad-hoc visiting. In addition, formal Ofsted regulation is anticipated. LADO processes will also provide some further assurance when triggered. Social work visits by the allocated social worker will augment all of these arrangements, further quality assured through the Children Look After reviews and IROs.