The true scale of out-of-authority placements for looked-after children was revealed for the first time in figures published by the Department for Education and Skills last week.

The figures show that nearly three-quarters of looked-after childrenwere living in placements within 20 miles of their home when they weretaken into care in 2004/05.

But the figures do not resolve the dispute over whether this newperformance indicator has created a "perverse incentive" for localauthorities to move children from stable placements more than 20 milesfrom home to nearer ones when it is not in their best interests. InAugust, evidence emerged that some councils were doing this (ChildrenNow, 31 August-6 September).

"The figures show we have some way to go to ensuring that children areoverwhelmingly placed in their communities," said Robert Tapsfield,chief executive of the Fostering Network.

Felicity Collier, chief executive of the British Association forAdoption & Fostering, added: "We're most worried about the potentialdistortion of the figure, where children are brought back to theiroriginal communities when they are very settled."

But Andrew Webb, the co-chair of the Association of Directors of SocialServices' children and families committee, said: "It's a good message.If people have been moving children closer to home it is usually withintheir care plan and for good reasons. It's a very complicatedpicture."

Separate figures on stability of placement show that just 65 per cent ofunder-16s who had been looked after for two-and-a-half or more years hadbeen living in the same placement for at least two years. As a result,35 per cent of children are not in stable placements. And the percentageof young people leaving care with at least one GCSE or GNVQ has remainedat 43 per cent over the last three years.

"If you combine the stability and education figures they are still notgood enough. Stability is absolutely key in ensuring children achieveeducationally," said Tapsfield.

The new statistics also reveal improvements in how children on childprotection registers are assessed. In 2005, 67 per cent of coreassessments were completed within the target of 35 days, compared to 62per cent in 2004 and 56 per cent in 2003.

And the Government has missed its target to increase the number ofadoptions by 40 per cent by this year. In 2004/05, 1,000 more childrenwere adopted than in 1999/2000 - up 38 per cent.

But Webb said overall the statistics painted a very positive picture,revealing that initiatives like Quality Protects and Choice Protectswere making a difference.

- www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/contents.shtml.