MPs call for end to out-of-area children's home placements

A report by the education select committee into government reforms of residential care calls for an end to unnecessary "out-of-area placements", stating that councils must ensure they have enough suitable placements in their area.

It suggests that local authorities start working together in consortia to bring distant out-of-authority placements closer to home.

And the report recommends that the government commissions a study into the possible impact of introducing a rule prohibiting local authorities from placing a child more than 20 miles from home, unless there is a proven need to do so.

Last year, the government published for the first time figures showing the number of children placed more than 20 miles away, and subsequently Education Secretary Michael Gove said proposals to set that as a new limit for the distance a child is placed were "serious".

Graham Stuart, chair of the committee, said: "We are deeply concerned about the number of children being placed in homes far from their own communities and families because of a lack of accommodation nearer to home. This should only happen where it is the right decision to best meet the needs of that child."

Stuart said the committee was also "shocked" by what it learned about the locations in which some children's homes are sited. 

"We suggest that the planning system may have a part to play here, but if the new area risk assessments do not bring about a clear improvement, then the government must act."

The report also calls for:

• Better training and development of children's residential care staff to create a culture that promotes safety
• A national protocol to allow children's homes to deal with incidents of challenging behaviour to avoid the over-criminalisation of children
• Children to be given a greater role in selecting residential care workers

David Simmonds, chair of the Local Government Association's children and young people board, said the flexibility to place children away from the area where abuse or neglect has brought them into the care system can be a vital way of giving them a new beginning away from these problems.

He said: "There are very good reasons why some children in residential homes are placed outside their home area.

"This could be for their own safety, to break gang affiliation, to place them near other family members or to access specialist services.

Simmonds added the LGA agreed that the historic problem of the clustering of lots of children's homes in a small number of areas in deprived communities is an issue that needs addressing.

"That is why councils, with their knowledge and understanding of local areas, should have greater say over where private care homes are set up," he added.

Jonathan Stanley, chief executive of the Independent Children's Homes Association, said the committee was right to keep an eye on the progress of the new location risk assessments, as they could represent a "major burden" for local government and associated agencies.

But he added that they provide an opportunity for "big steps" in collaboration between agencies.

Enver Solomon, director of evidence and impact at the NCB, said his organisation remains concerned that too many children in residential care are unnecessarily criminalised.

He added that the Home Office should support the work of the Association of Chief Police Officers in developing a national protocol that avoids children being unnecessarily prosecuted.