Government action on children's homes to address plight of young runaways

The inquiry by two all party parliamentary groups (APPGs) found that children in care are three times more likely to run away than those who live at home, putting them in great danger of sexual abuse or exploitation.

It warned that children are being systematically failed, citing incidents of professionals failing to address abuse because they see young people as  “troublesome, promiscuous, criminals or ‘slags who knew what they were getting themselves into’ – rather than extremely vulnerable young people in need of support.”

The parliamentary groups are now calling for an independent investigation into how children’s homes in England support young people in their care.

They also want urgent action to be taken to reduce the number of children placed in care homes outside their local area.

Almost half of all children in children’s homes live outside their own local authority, despite evidence that this is often a major factor in causing them to run away.

Estimated police figures for last year show that 10,000 children went missing from care - but Department for Education figures only list 930 children as missing from care for more than 24 hours.

To remedy such discrepancies, the report suggests that a new system of recording incidents of children running away from care is required, combining data from both the police and local authorities.

Ann Coffey MP, chair of the APPG for Runaway and Missing Children and Adults, said: “There is a scandal going on in England involving children missing from care - and until recent cases of child sexual exploitation in Rochdale and other places put the spotlight on this issue – it was pretty much going unnoticed.

“This inquiry has revealed the widespread concern that what we have in place at the moment falls dramatically short of what is needed to protect some of society’s most vulnerable children. We know that dangerous predators are exploiting large gaps in the system and targeting children.”

Children’s minister Tim Loughton said the current system leaves “far too many of the most vulnerable children in society exposed to harm and danger”.

“It is completely unacceptable that existing rules are simply being ignored and that frankly, some local authorities and children’s homes are letting down children by failing to act as a proper ‘parent’,” he said.

“We are looking in detail at all the issues raised and will set out urgent next steps in the coming weeks.”   

Debbie Jones, president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS), said local authorities should study the report’s recommendations to make sure they are doing everything they can to keep children in care safe.

“Many local authorities are already fulfilling many of these recommendations locally,” she said. “However it is clear that this is not happening everywhere and there must be a concerted effort by local authorities to share good practice across the whole sector.”

Jones added that it is right to place some children in residential care outside their local area. “There are good reasons why a child might be placed far from home - for example if they are at risk of exploitation or trafficking in their local area,” she said.

“Choosing the right placement is more important than adhering to a blanket rule that children should be placed locally."