The minister, whose brief includes looked-after children, said he would meet with the Commission for Social Care Inspection to see what could be done.
He also said he would write to councils with a high number of out-of-authority placements in children's homes to find out why this was happening.
His comments follow research by a magistrate in Worthing that revealed that children from care homes committed a high proportion of cases dealt with in court.
Councillor Alison King, chair of the Local Government Association's Children and Young People Board, said that in an ideal world all children would be placed near home but practicalities meant it was sometimes hard to avoid out-of-authority placements. "It's one of those things that will never be easy to solve," she said.
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