We are writing to request information regarding accommodation provided by your council to looked after children.

Policies on accommodation for Looked After Children (As defined in section 22 of the Children Act 1989)

1. Please provide documents, such as policy and protocol documents, and/or guidance notes, relating to policies that govern the assessment of suitability and allocation of accommodation for unaccompanied asylum-seeking (As defined in the Immigration Rules (paragraph 352ZD)) children by your council.

2. Please provide documents, such as policy and protocol documents, and/or guidance notes, relating to policies that govern the use of unregulated accommodation for looked after children. i.e accommodation which does not meet the requirements of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010, as amended by the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023.

3. Please provide documents, such as policy and protocol documents, and/or guidance notes, relating to policies that govern the use of supported accommodation for looked after children. i.e a semi-independent or independent setting, provided under s.22C(6)(d) Children Act 1989.

4. If the policies for assessing and determining accommodation outcomes for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and other looked after children differ, please confirm this.

5. Please provide documents, such as policy and protocol documents, and/or guidance notes, relating to policies that govern the assessment of suitability and allocation of accommodation for child victims of trafficking who are looked after by your council. (By child victim of trafficking, we mean any child who has been referred into the National Referral Mechanism (“NRM”), have a positive reasonable grounds decision or positive conclusive grounds decision.)

Safeguarding in supported accommodation

6. What training, if any, is provided to staff working in supported accommodation regarding the specific needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children?

7. What training, if any, is provided to staff working in supported accommodation regarding the specific needs of child victims of trafficking?

8. What process or procedures are in place to address complaints or concerns raised by children in supported accommodation?

9. Over the last 12 months (or nearest equivalent period for which data is available), how many safeguarding concerns or incidents have been reported in relation to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in supported accommodation?

10. As of October 2024 (or nearest available data), how many of the unaccompanied asylum-seeking children looked after by your council were child victims of trafficking (trafficking as defined above)?

Placement stability

11. As at October 2024 (or nearest available data), please confirm the average length of time spent in a placement by a child looked after by your council.

12. As at October 2024 (or nearest available data), please confirm the average length of time spent in a placement by an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child looked after by your council

13. As at October 2024 (or nearest available data), please confirm the average length of time spent in a supported accommodation placement by a child looked after by your council.

14. As at October 2024 (or nearest available data), please confirm the average length of time spent in a supported accommodation placement by an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child looked after by your council

Missing episodes

15. Over the last 12 months (or nearest equivalent period for which data is available), how many missing episodes were recorded by your council in relation to looked after children?

16. Over the last 12 months (or nearest equivalent period for which data is available), how many missing episodes were recorded by your council in relation to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children?

17. Over the last 12 months (or nearest equivalent period for which data is available), how many missing episodes from supported accommodation were recorded by your council in relation to looked after children?

18. Over the last 12 months (or nearest equivalent period for which data is available), how many missing episodes from supported accommodation were recorded by your council in relation to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children?