National standards for unregulated accommodation ‘would lower leaving care age to 16’, Labour peer warns
Fiona Simpson
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Government plans to introduce national standards for unregulated accommodation for older teenagers will “in effect reduce the leaving care age to 16”, a member of the House of Lords has warned.
Labour party peer Lord Mike Watson accused the government of introducing a “two-tier” care system during a debate over the introduction of Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021.
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The regulations, which come following a public consultation over the use of unregulated supported accommodation, propose to ban the use of such provision for under-16s as well as introduce national standards for accommodation for 16- and 17-year-olds overseen by Ofsted.
However, Watson argued: “These standards would have to omit any requirement to provide care to 16- and 17-year-olds but that’s what will happen because establishments that provide children with care and accommodation must register as children’s homes and be inspected by Ofsted.”
“These regulations formally create a two-tier care system which could lead to a situation where care is provided based on age rather than need, in effect it will reduce the leaving care age to 16,” he said.
Unregulated accommodation for children in care. Here's Lord Watson summing up the risks and likely effects of the government's changes to The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010. (Made through Statutory Instrument 161). pic.twitter.com/HLxrydmLuJ
— Article 39 (@article_39) March 22, 2021
The government is set to launch a second consultation into the proposed national standards this year.
Conservative peer Baroness Berridge told Lords that the government does not agree with a recommendation made by former children’s commissioner for England Anne Longfield to ban such provision for all children aged up to 18.
“We have more older children in the care system and coming into the care system at an older age and we must make sure there is an option to facilitate their independence as they prepare for adult life and leaving care,” Berridge said.
She added that such settings were used for children who had been placed through a court order and for whom “a placement back with their family, with foster carers or at a children’s home would not be appropriate”.
“It’s a small number of difficult cases but it is in the best interest of those young people and we don’t want to curtail the courts in making those kinds of orders which means they are on bail rather than on remand,” she said.
Berridge also insisted that “they may also be the best option” for children who enter the care system in their late teens including “asylum-seeking children who have come independently to this country and do not want to be placed in a family environment”.
The comments have sparked concern among campaigners calling for an outright ban on unregulated accommodation.
The Care Leavers’ Association branded Berridge’s arguments “a disgrace” and said on Twitter: “This shows government has no understanding of the needs of young people in care. They also need better quality of accommodation for care leavers over 18.”
One children’s services professional added: “This is actually incredibly distressing. The government reason for disagreeing to unregulated accommodation for 16- to 18-year-olds is abandonment wrapped up as 'preparing for independence'. It is unthinkable that you would 'prepare' your child in this way for adulthood.”
Former Leeds City Council director of children’s services Steve Walker, who now leads the council’s children’s services improvement programme, said: “The research on Staying Put was clear about the benefit to children and young people of extending the transition into independence. No one is ready to leave home at 16.”
The Department for Education has been contacted for further comment.