Legal Update: Education of looked-after children

In February, the children's minister, Nadhim Zahawi, announced that the government would provide an extra £7m a year for the extension of the virtual school heads scheme, alongside additional funding for personal advisers to cover the new responsibility for care leavers not in education, employment or training.

The funding accompanies new statutory guidance on children in care and care-leavers, which outlines the extended duties of both personal advisers and virtual school heads, published in February 2018 in line with the enactment of the Children and Social Work Act 2017. Under previous legislation, local authorities were only required to provide care leavers with personal adviser support until the age of 21, or up to 25 if they are in education or training. From 1 April they will be required to provide personal adviser support to all care leavers until the age of 25 regardless of whether the care leaver is in education or training. The duty on virtual school heads to promote the educational achievement of all looked-after children in care has been extended to cover children who are no longer looked-after, possibly because they have been adopted or returned home, up to the age of 18, as they continue to face educational challenges after leaving care.

The Children Act 1989 imposes a duty on local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of looked-after children. This duty extends to promoting the child's educational achievement under section 22(3A). In addition, local authorities have a duty under section 23ZZA of the Children Act 1989 (inserted by section 4 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017) to promote the educational achievement of previously looked-after children.

Virtual school heads, introduced via the Children and Families Act 2014, play an integral role in discharging the above duties. Each local authority is now required to have an officer in charge of promoting the educational achievement of all looked-after and previously looked-after children in the local authority for which they work. For looked-after children, it is the role of the virtual school head to ensure that there are effective systems in place to:

• Maintain an up-to-date roll of looked-after children who are in school or college settings and gather information about their placement, attendance and progress;
• Ensure social workers, teachers, carers and independent reviewing officers understand their responsibilities in developing, reviewing and updating the child's personal education plan; and
• Ensure the educational achievement of children looked after by the authority is seen as a priority by everyone who has responsibilities for promoting their welfare.

The role of the virtual school head is more limited for previously looked-after children, as the local authority is no longer the child's corporate parent. Virtual school heads must ensure that they provide suitable advice and information in order to promote their educational achievement and can undertake any activity they consider appropriate to promote their educational achievement.

One particular point emphasised in the updated guidance is that virtual school heads should be "educational advocates" for looked-after children and for previously looked-after children they should be a source of advice and information to assist parents in fulfilling the role of an advocate.

Personal education plans

A child's personal education plan (PEP) is an important component to a looked-after child's overall care plan. A range of educational and developmental considerations are covered in a PEP and these include: provision of immediate suitable education where a child is not in school; transition support needs where required, such as when a child begins to attend a new school or returns to school; support required to help the child realise their short and long-term academic achievements and aspirations. The local authority is under a duty to ensure that the PEP fully reflects the educational needs of the child, remains relevant to the child's age, ability and aptitude, and is implemented effectively.

This updated guidance, particularly the expanded role of the virtual school head, will go a long way to ensure that looked-after children and previously looked-after children are afforded the opportunity to realise their potential.

POINTS FOR PRACTICE

• Local authorities should ensure they are able to fulfil their duty to promote the educational achievement of previously looked-after children in their area by providing information and advice.
• The virtual school head should be the lead responsible officer for ensuring that arrangements are in place to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of the authority's looked-after children, including those placed out-of-authority.

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