Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Rejected
The NAO report collates for the first time a wide range of information from across...
Recommendation
The NAO report collates for the first time a wide range of information from across government about the adverse outcomes facing the most vulnerable adolescents. The Department for Education told us it would be challenging to report across government on ‘every possible difficulty’ but it would be possible to focus on individual issues or clusters of issues that often co-occur.14 It also said there was value in understanding the complex overlaps between clusters and using that information to identify where a particular approach to a set of overlapping needs makes sense.15 6 C&AG’s Report, paras 3, 1.5 7 Q 23 8 Q 81 9 Q 88 10 Q 94 11 Q 17 12 Children’s Commissioner for England, Teenagers falling through the gaps, July 2020 13 C&AG’s Report, Figure 9, para 1.32 14 Q 92 15 Q 94 Support for vulnerable adolescents 11 Leadership in addressing the challenges faced by vulnerable adolescents.
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation. It says it does not maintain a single definition of vulnerability because different agencies need flexibility. The Vulnerable Children and Families Strategy Board will monitor data sharing progress.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
7. PAC conclusion: Data sharing exercises need to be better used to understand the support vulnerable adolescents need. 7: PAC recommendation: The Department for Education should take the lead in coordinating and setting out within six months an agreed approach to how departments will collect and use data to understand the pathways to adverse outcomes for vulnerable adolescents. 7.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 7.2 The government is committed to safe and effective data and information sharing across government to address the needs of vulnerable children and young people, including adolescents. This is taking place through the Longitudinal Education Outcomes and Pupil Parent Matched Data Programmes; Department for Education’s Data Matching and Linking function; The Data Improvement Across Government programme (which includes the Ministry of Justice / Department for Education data share; the Extended ECHILD work and facilitated in Ministry of Justice by Data First); and the Ministry of Justice BOLD project. Stable Homes, Built on Love: Implementation Strategy and Consultation also commits DfE to publishing a data strategy to set out the long-term plan for transforming data in children’s social care. 7.3 There is a reasoned basis for not giving any single department leadership responsibility for setting out an approach for collecting data on outcomes for all adolescents at risk (or indeed any age group at risk). The government does not maintain a single, all- encompassing definition of vulnerability because it is a broad and subjective term. Different agencies and professions define vulnerability differently and need flexibility. As a result, it is not appropriate for one department to set out a common approach for collecting and using data to assess outcomes for all vulnerable adolescents. 7.4 The Department for Education chairs and acts as the secretariat for the Vulnerable Children and Families Strategy Board which is attended by several departments and arms- length bodies. The Board will monitor the progress of data sharing designed to safeguard and protect vulnerable children and young people and identify risk factors across central and local government. This will include ensuring there is a coherent overarching approach, a clear line of sight on what datasets exist, that new opportunities for data sharing are identified and that best practise is disseminated.