PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Housing: Young Offenders (30 January 2023)

Local Authorities have a statutory duty to make sure that there is sufficient provision in their area to meet the needs of children in their care. Children should not be detained overnight in police custody post-charge, and police forces and local authorities should be working to facilitate this in line with the provisions of the Home Office Concordat on Children in Custody.

The Government is supporting Local Authorities to meet their statutory duty through £259 million of capital funding to maintain capacity and expand provision in both secure and open children’s homes. This will provide high quality, safe homes for some of our most vulnerable children and young people and create new places and support provision in secure children’s homes in all nine regions of England.

The Government’s response to the recommendations in the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care also sets out our longer-term plans to improve the commissioning of Local Authority children’s social care placements.