Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

This will not have escaped the Committee’s attention, but I am developing something of a standard refrain in reply to these debates, which goes as follows. I absolutely agree with the sentiments being expressed but existing legislation and/or regulations and/or guidance already provide for it or will do so once we have revised the said regulations or guidance. As I look through the pages of my speaking note, I fear that that is precisely what I shall say in response to these amendments. We entirely agree with the need to ensure that local authorities provide sufficient accommodation for looked-after children, which is the purpose of the noble Earl’s Amendments Nos. 19 and 20 and Amendment No. 30 proposed by the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley. However, new subsection (7A) in Clause 8(2) of the Bill would prevent local authorities from using a lack of provision in their area as an excuse to place children out of it. If they did so, they would not be acting reasonably to fulfil their obligations under this duty. In addition, local authorities are already under a general duty to secure a range and level of services, which clearly includes accommodation, appropriate to the needs of children, including disabled children, in their area through Section 17 of the Children Act 1989. Moreover, Section 23(8) ensures that accommodation provided by a local authority to a disabled looked-after child should not be unsuitable to their particular needs. We have committed in Care Matters to developing the detail in guidance to help to secure the improvements in local authority commissioning and placement supply, which is dealt with by Amendment No. 22C, tabled by the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, on commissioning. We are entirely supportive of the view set out powerfully, also, by the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, that effective commissioning lies at the heart of improving services for children and young people. My department, the Department of Health and the Department for Communities and Local Government are working together to put in place the right framework to ensure that there is effective joint commissioning. There are already a range of obligations on health and local authorities, including a duty to undertake joint strategic needs assessments and a requirement to produce a children and young people’s plan. In addition, we are currently consulting on statutory guidance covering the role of the local authority as commissioner, including services for looked-after children; the consultation is due to close in March. The noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, asked about local authorities that are still paying below the national minimum allowances. As she knows, we have the legal power to enforce those allowances and we are working with Ofsted to ensure that we have accurate information about the allowance levels paid by all fostering providers. We will look closely at that information as it becomes available in deciding whether to enforce our national minimum allowance rates. Amendment No. 22B refers to accommodation for children leaving care. As part of our wider Care Matters programme, we will be revising the regulations and guidance to the Children Act. This will include revision of the children leaving care guidance. We will use this opportunity to emphasise the responsibilities that local authority leaving care services will have to children whom they have placed in unregulated supported accommodation. These responsibilities will necessarily include ensuring that children are properly safeguarded, and so are not to be expected to live in unsafe places, and that the services commissioned to support them in any unregulated accommodation are the most appropriate to responding to the full range of their needs. I hope that that goes some way towards meeting the points raised by the noble Earl.