Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Accepted
The Department for Education explained that the care system was originally set up to address...
Conclusion
The Department for Education explained that the care system was originally set up to address issues that originate from within the home and was not designed to address ‘extra- familial’ harms that take place outside the home.37 It said that to help address this, it has produced guidance on risks from outside the home, and in 2021 it invested £1.5 million in 20 local authorities to help them strengthen their approaches to safeguarding adolescents at risk of extra-familial harms. It claimed that the growth in the number of adolescents in care is a “good sign” as it shows the system is getting better at placing adolescents into the care system where there has been extra-familial harm. However, it acknowledged that its response to these harms and its support to older children through the care system is less mature and still being developed. It also recognised that despite efforts to share good practice, local approaches are still variable.38 It also said it could set clearer expectations and a national framework for safeguarding older children.39
Government Response Summary
The Department for Education published Stable Homes, Built on Love in February 2023. The department is investing £2.8 million in the Tackling Child Exploitation Programme and is providing funding to four local authorities to test a Risk Outside the Home pathway.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4b: PAC recommendation: • The Department for Education, in its response to the Care Review should set out how the revised care system will more effectively address the risks to adolescents posed by extra-familial threats. 4.6 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.7 In February 2023, the Department for Education published Stable Homes, Built on Love: implementation strategy and consultation in response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. 4.8 In the response, the department outlined its commitment to deliver a decisive and multi-agency child protection system for all children, acknowledging a more tailored approach is required to respond to harm outside the home. The Children’s Social Care National Framework, published for consultation, alongside the Implementation Strategy, also recognises the need for a strong child protection response to harm outside the home and exploitation. 4.9 To strengthen local area responses to safeguarding adolescents from exploitation and extra familial harm, the department has invested £2.8 million in the Tackling Child Exploitation Programme. In 2022-23, the programme has worked with the sector, and across government, to develop multi-agency practice principles for local partnerships when tackling harms outside the home. These principles are grounded in evidence and draw on the views of young people with lived experience. The principles will be available in Spring 2023. 4.10 The department is also taking steps to ensure that the child protection framework is strengthened to respond effectively where harm is from outside the home. In 2022-23, the department is provided funding to four local authorities, to further test a Risk Outside the Home pathway, based on the model developed in Wiltshire Council. Learning from the pilots will help to identify the key features of a bespoke pathway, and opportunities to further strengthen Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance for children facing harm outside the home.