A study by the NAO, which scrutinises public spending on behalf of parliament, found that despite the Department for Education (DfE) having an objective of improving placement stability, at the end of March 2013, 34 per cent of children in care had more than one placement during the year, the same proportion as in 2009.
Meanwhile, 14 per cent of foster children and 34 per cent of those in residential care were placed more than 20 miles from home – a proportion that has also not improved in the last four years.
Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said too many children taken into care are not getting the right placement first time.
“If their complex and challenging learning and development needs are not correctly assessed and tackled, the result is likely to be significant long-term detriment to the children themselves as well as cost to society,” he added.
“No progress has been made in the last four years.
“If the Department for Education is to break this pattern, then it needs to use its new Innovation Programme to understand what works, especially in terms of early intervention.”
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