Recommendation 52

HM Government · verbatim extract Accepted

NOT TAKEN FORWARD The Department does not plan to introduce a new duty to develop a National Care Offer or to create a specific national transition programme for care leavers. It will however continue to guide local authorities on their local offers and maintain and strengthen existing national support for care leavers, while improving transitions for all young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of being NEET. We recognise that care leavers report that the support they receive can vary depending on which local authority is supporting them, and that they are not always aware what support is available. While we do not plan to introduce a new duty on the Secretary of State to publish a national offer for care leavers, we will update our guidance on what we expect local authorities to provide in their local offers, which includes: a Personal Adviser (PA) to support them to transition to independent living, up to age 25; accommodation if they are aged 16 or 17; and support to ‘Stay Put’ with their former foster care up to age 21, if both the young person and former foster carer want it; a leaving care grant to enable them to furnish their first home (which DfE recommends should be £3,000); and support to engage in education, employment or training, including a £2,000 bursary if they go to university. Legislation also requires local authorities to publish their local offer for care leavers, clarifying these legal entitlements and setting out any discretionary support that the local authority provides. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will extend this core offer by requiring local authorities to provide Staying Close support to care leavers where their welfare requires it. In addition to the support provided by local authorities, there is further support available to all care leavers, including entitlement to a £3,000 bursary if they take up an apprenticeship; and access to the higher (one-bedroom) rate of Housing Benefit/Housing Support in Universal Credit. To help care leavers better understand the support available to them and how to access it, we have recently launched a new website bringing together information on all the support they are entitled to. The Government is committed to supporting all care-experienced children and young people as they transition from secondary education into further education, training, or employment. Virtual School Heads (VSHs) have a statutory duty to promote the educational outcomes of looked-after children up to age 18, and their role includes supporting transitions into post-16 education, employment and training. VSHs oversee the use of Personal Education Plans (PEPs), which help children in care achieve their academic goals and long-term aspirations, including preparing for post-16 pathways. VSHs also manage post-16 Pupil Premium Plus funding we have provided to support targeted interventions, such as mentoring, tuition, which are essential in helping looked-after children and care leavers to move successfully into further education and training. VSHs also have a statutory duty towards previously looked-after children, providing information and advice to parents, teachers and others, upon request, on areas such as transition support and effective use of Pupil Premium Plus to support longer-term ambitions. Since 2021, the VSH role was extended further, on a non-statutory basis, to include promoting the educational outcomes of all children with a social worker. This includes increased use of data and collaborative working to make visible the challenges this cohort can face in education, and strategies for improving their outcomes. The strategic role also includes promoting attendance and engagement in education and working with education providers to better-support transitions into post-16. We are now making this role statutory through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. Personal Advisers (PAs) play a central role in support care leavers as they transition into further education, training or employment. Each care leaver must have a Pathway Plan, setting out individual goals and the support they need to achieve them. The plan should be reviewed regularly and tailored to reflect individual circumstances, strengths, needs and aspirations, and should cover a broad range of areas to successful transition, including education and training, financial support and accommodation, emotional wellbeing and access to services, and practical support, including help navigating further education systems, applying for bursaries, and accessing mentoring opportunities. The Committee’s report highlights that children and young adults with experience of being in care are far less likely than their peers to be in education, employment and training. We have said in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper3 that we will focus on re-engaging young people who are not in education, employment and training (NEET) in order to prevent the risk of yo