Figures from the Youth Justice Board reveal that there were 18 vacant beds out of a total of around 150 last Friday (17 June), down from a peak of 44 in mid-April (Children Now, 11-17 May).
The news comes ahead of a meeting planned for mid-July to discuss the issue involving officials from the Department for Education and Skills, the Association of Directors of Social Services, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, the Youth Justice Board, and the Secure Accommodation Network.
But Mary Graham, the network's chair and manager of the Atkinson secure home in Exeter, said: "We have a number of concerns about why vacancies are occurring."
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