One in eight children in care 'placed in unregulated settings'

In 2018/19, 12,800 spent some time accommodated in unregulated settings - 69 per cent more than in 2012/13, Anne Longfield’s Unregulated: Children in care living in semi-independent accommodation report shows.

“Pressures on council budgets, an increase in the number of teens entering care and a lack of suitable placements for them are creating a perfect storm which means that local authorities are overly reliant on poor quality unregulated accommodation. This is closely related to a lack of capacity in children’s homes,” Longfield says.

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The majority of children placed in unregulated settings are aged 16 and 17, the report states, however, in 2018/19 651 children aged under 16 were placed in such settings compared with 273 under-16s in 2012/13.

Children who experience a family breakdown as a teenager are also more likely to be placed in unregulated settings than those who go into care at a younger age, Longfield says.

“Another group of children who commonly end up in unregulated accommodation are those who have experienced a period of family breakdown and have either been thrown out or walked out. This is part of the reason why children in unregulated accommodation typically enter care at a later age than others, at an average age of 14 years old compared to six years old for other children in care, and 10 years old for those in children’s homes,” the report states.

An increasing number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) are also being placed in unregulated accommodation, Longfield says.

In 2019, a third of children placed in unregulated settings were UASC despite making up just four per cent of all children in care.

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“The fact that UASC children make up a large proportion of children in unregulated accommodation is reflected by how the use of these placements varies by local area. In areas where numbers of UASC have risen significantly since 2013/14, the number of unregulated placements has also grown significantly,” the report states.

Longfield is calling on the government to ban the use of unregulated accommodation for all children aged under 18.

She is also urging an increase in capacity across the care system following anecdotal reports that some local authorities had paid up to £9,000 a week for unregulated accommodation due to lack of other suitable placements.

Other recommendations made in the report include:

• Clarification of what care looks like for children of different ages, including older teens
• Regulation of unregulated settings – to ensure quality for young adults in these settings
• Strengthening the role of Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs)

Earlier this year, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson launched a consultation into the use of unregulated supported accommodation including plans to ban the use of such settings for under-16s and the introduction of minimum national standards for settings accomodating 16- to 18-year-olds.

Longfield said: “The government has proposed cleaning up the unregulated sector by introducing new minimum standards, but this does not address the real problem – allowing children under 18 to be placed in this accommodation in the first place.

“For too long children have been placed in this inappropriate accommodation as the sector has gone unchecked, with some providers making large profits from substandard and unsafe accommodation while offering little to no support. 

“This is about the basic standards of care we provide to children looked after by the state: a safe and secure place to live and proper support to help with the challenges they face. This is the minimum we would expect for every child, yet there are 12,000 children in England looked after by the state for whom these standards do not apply. That is why the law must change so that all looked after children who need a residential placement are housed in accommodation regulated under the same standards as children’s homes.”

Carolyne Willow, director of children’s rights group Article 39, supported a ban on unregulated accommodation for all children, saying: “We dearly hope that Ministers have heard and understood the views and experiences of children and young people who have lived in supported accommodation, and dropped their plan to only guarantee care to children under the age of 16. The proposal for a set of standards for supported accommodation, when we already have quality standards for children’s homes, is retrograde and designed for providers, not children. 

“If local authorities are looking after children by law, then they must ensure that children are actually cared for, nurtured and protected. We cannot have a two-tier residential system. The government’s own data shows that children from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities are disproportionately put into this type of accommodation, so there is a real risk of entrenching discriminatory decision-making.”

Katharine Sacks-Jones, chief executive of looked-after children and care leavers charity Become also supported the recommendation.

She said: “It’s shocking but sadly not entirely surprising that last year one in eight children in care spent time in unregulated accommodation, like hostels and bedsits. There is a serious lack of properly regulated, suitable homes for the growing number of teenagers in the care system, which leaves them living in unsuitable and often unsafe environments.

“We firmly stand by the children’s commissioner’s call to ban the use of unregulated housing for all children in care - something we called for in our response to the government’s consultation on this issue earlier in the year.

“We are alarmed by the report’s warning of increasing numbers of 16 year olds living in this kind of unregulated accommodation. We completely disagree with the implicit assumption that 16 is the right age for children in care to move towards ‘independence’. Most 16 year olds can expect the ongoing love, care and protection of their parents - and children in care need this as much as any other child. 

“It is critical that government responds to the consultation quickly. Unregulated accommodation must be banned for children in care, and we hope to see a focus on increasing the number of regulated and appropriate homes for children, so that every child has a place to live which guarantees them care and protection.”

However, Jenny Coles, president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, said a blanket ban on such accommodation for over 16s “would remove the flexibility we currently have to support young people in their journey to increased independence” and called on the government to complete its review urgently.

She said: “No child should live in unsafe, unsuitable accommodation, and we share concerns that this is not always the case. Finding the right placement at the right time for the growing number of children in our care and care leavers is a priority for all local authorities but this is becoming increasingly difficult because we face a national shortage of placements of all types. 

“Independent or semi independent provision can be the right thing and placement of choice for some young people when it is used as part of a planned process as a stepping stone to independence with a support plan in place. This is different to it being used in emergency situations after a placement breakdown or when no other placement can be found for a child with very complex needs. 

“A blanket ban on the use of these settings for under 18s would remove the flexibility we currently have to support young people in their journey to increased independence.  It would also further exacerbate the sufficiency challenges local authorities are currently grappling with.  The government has committed to undertaking a review of the care system and this must commence as soon as possible so these issues can be addressed.”