“Ensuring children get the best care and support is a priority for councils. While no council wants to place a child in an unregistered setting, in many cases they have no choice due to the lack of available provision that meets children’s needs.
Responding to Ofsted’s plan to tackle unregistered children’s homes, Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children, Young People and Families Committee, said:
“Ensuring children get the best care and support is a priority for councils. While no council wants to place a child in an unregistered setting, in many cases they have no choice due to the lack of available provision that meets children’s needs.
“The huge cost of care placements also means there is less money for councils to spend on the vital, early help and support for children and families, that can prevent crisis later.
“The sector and government must work together to address this situation and ensure we have sufficient registered homes for children. This will require everyone – including central and local government, Ofsted, the NHS and providers to act together and tackle the systemic problems in the children’s homes market.
“We support the measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to increase oversight of the largest providers of children’s homes, as well as the introduction of a profit cap to tackle excessive profiteering in the market.”