Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would be grateful if you could provide the following information in relation to children’s residential care placements within your Local Authority area.

1. Current Sufficiency and Demand
• The current number of looked after children requiring residential children’s home placements.
• The number of children currently placed:
• within the Local Authority area; and
• outside of the Local Authority area.
• The number of children currently placed in:
• Ofsted registered children’s homes;
• solo placements;
• unregistered placements/emergency arrangements (if applicable).

2. Placement Costs
Please provide the average weekly placement cost currently paid by the Local Authority for:
• standard residential children’s home placements;
• solo placements;
• complex/high-needs placements;
• emergency placements.
If possible, please provide placement fee ranges where averages are not available.

3. Sufficiency Needs and Commissioning
• Does the Local Authority currently identify a shortage of residential children’s home placements?
• If yes, what are the key areas of need? (for example: solo homes, EBD, complex needs, mother and baby, disabilities, step-down provision etc.)
• Is the Local Authority currently seeking additional residential providers within the area?
• Are there preferred locations or gaps in local provision identified within your sufficiency strategy?

4. Strategic Planning
• Please provide a copy or link to the most recent Sufficiency Strategy and/or Market Position Statement relating to children’s residential care.