Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Thirty-Seventh Report - Support for vulnerable adolescents
Public Accounts Committee
HC 730
Published 22 February 2023
Recommendations
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 …
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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.
HM Treasury
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23
Rejected
The poor outcomes experienced by vulnerable adolescents are often overlapping.
Recommendation
The poor outcomes experienced by vulnerable adolescents are often overlapping. For example, we received written evidence highlighting research which shows people who have been in care are more likely to experience homelessness, long-term physical and 53 Q 39 54 C&AG’s …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation, stating they are committed to data sharing and that a single definition of vulnerability is not appropriate. The Vulnerable Children and Families Strategy Board will monitor data sharing to safeguard vulnerable children.
HM Treasury
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26
Rejected
The government have plans to join up more data sets.
Recommendation
The government have plans to join up more data sets. For example, the Department for Education told us about work it has planned to link anonymised data on education, hospital admissions, mental health services, community services and maternity services. In …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation, stating that different agencies define vulnerability differently and need flexibility, therefore it's not appropriate for one department to set a common approach for collecting and using data to assess outcomes for all vulnerable adolescents; instead, data sharing will be monitored through the Vulnerable Children and Families Strategy Board.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (2)
24
Conclusion
Rejected
The NAO found that Government data sets are not consistently joined-up, which makes it difficult to understand the nature and scale of the adverse impacts faced by adolescents, particularly where these are overlapping adverse outcomes. This makes it harder to understand how risks escalate and how support can be better …
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation, stating they are committed to data sharing and that a single definition of vulnerability is not appropriate. The Vulnerable Children and Families Strategy Board will monitor data sharing to safeguard vulnerable children.
25
Conclusion
Rejected
The Department for Education and Ministry of Justice referred to a joint data sharing exercise they carried out in 2020 to understand the educational and children’s social care background of children who have been cautioned or sentenced for an offence. The Ministry of Justice told us this had helped “shine …
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation, stating they are committed to data sharing and that a single definition of vulnerability is not appropriate. The Vulnerable Children and Families Strategy Board will monitor data sharing to safeguard vulnerable children.