The Department for Education (DfE) has released statistics providing information on looked after children in England in 2021/2022. The figures reveal the number of children looked after by local authorities in England stood at 82,170 in 2022 compared to 80,780 in 2021, an increase of 2%. This release provides information on children looked after (CLA) […]
How local authorities plan for sufficiency: children in care and care leavers
A report on how local authorities plan for sufficiency of accommodation that meets the needs of children in care and care leavers. In summer 2022, Ofsted investigated how local authorities fulfil their sufficiency duty and how they know if it works. They explored the challenges and barriers that local authorities face when planning for sufficiency […]
Children in care’s views on wellbeing: Coram Voice and Rees Centre ‘10,000 voices’ report – England
Coram Voice and the Rees Centre have published a report aiming to provide insight into the subjective wellbeing of children in care. The report summarises responses to a survey of nearly 10,000 children and young people in care aged 4-18 years between 2016 and 2021. Findings include: A larger proportion of young people (aged 11-18 […]
Ofsted Statistics – Fostering England April 21 – March 22
Ofsted have released their annual fostering in England statistics. This release covers: the numbers of foster carers and foster places and placements, in both local authority (LA) and independent fostering agencies (IFA) data relating to types of foster care, registrations, deregistrations and a range of other subjects the period between 1 April 2021 and 31 […]
Accommodation for children in care – Consultation
The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a consultation on unregulated provision for children in care and care leavers in England. It has been launched alongside a research report on the same topic and transparency data on looked after children in independent or semi-independent placements. The consultation seeks views on proposals to: ban placing children […]
Meeting the Needs of BAME Children in Foster Care
Two articles this month examine the issue of the shortage of black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) foster carers: BBC analysis of Ofsted figures show that two-thirds of councils in England have a shortage of BAME foster carers. 23% of children in foster care in England at 31 March 2019 came from a BAME background. […]
Meeting the Needs of BAME Children in Foster Care
Two articles this month examine the issue of the shortage of black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) foster carers: BBC analysis of Ofsted figures show that two-thirds of councils in England have a shortage of BAME foster carers. 23% of children in foster care in England at 31 March 2019 came from a BAME background. In […]
Shortage of foster carers from BAME backgrounds
The BBC reports that analysis of Ofsted statistics for 2018/19, looking at local authorities that provide fostering services in England, shows that 99 of the 146 local authorities that provide fostering services had a shortage or undersupply of foster carers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. Further details are available here > […]
Fostering in England 2018-19: Ofsted Statistics
Ofsted has released its latest annual dataset on fostering provision in both local authority and independent fostering services in England for the year ending 31 March 2019. Key figures include: There were 88,370 approved fostering places as at 31 March 2019, an increase of 1.4% on the previous year, but filled places increased at a […]
Social Care Questionnaires 2019 – what young people told Ofsted
Ofsted uses questionnaires to capture views about social care settings, including children’s homes, boarding schools and living with foster carers and adopters. This is the fifth year that data has been published. Further details are available here > […]