While one 12-year-old boy was kept in a campsite for weeks more than 100 miles from his siblings and school, children in care are being illegally housed in caravans and narrowboats.
Councils are breaching the law by placing minors under the age of 16 in unregistered care homes. Additionally, it is prohibited for care providers to operate these facilities, however there are some exceptions for vacations and other activities that activists worry are being abused.
Ofsted maintains that it needs more power, despite the Department of Education’s assertion that it is Ofsted’s responsibility to seek charges.
According to a thorough investigation by BBC News, at least 120 children have been placed in unregistered homes.
In one instance, a 14-year-old child from Portsmouth who was reported to be at danger of jumping out of windows was given an uncontrolled placement above a store.
Some businesses have even placed youngsters in tents.
Another 12-year-old boy was recently placed in the care of Bear Care Services, a business that shelters children in narrowboats and caravans, for a period of six weeks.
Before his last facility abruptly closed, the boy had been transferred between a number of residential care facilities. Then he was taken to a caravan.
According to the BBC, Worcestershire County Council did not dispute that it broke the law by putting the youngster in unsupervised housing and referred to the arrangement as a “crisis.”
A “massive shortage of registered provision,” according to Bear Care Services, necessitates the use of caravans and narrowboats.
It maintained that because postings in mobile homes are exempt from registration, it was not infringing the law.
A portion of the Wigan-based company’s website describes its “crisis barges” as “truly luxurious” and equipped with “a hand built solid oak kitchen and granite worktops.” This suggests that the company takes pride in its ability to provide mobile lodging.
According to the company’s website, its caravans have a “premium cabin door, aluminium frame windows, and a hot water heating system” and provide “quality with a hint of luxury.”
In response to freedom of information requests, 141 local authorities in England provided information, and more than 50 acknowledged placing at least 120 children in unsupervised housing.
In some of these situations, the child’s freedom of movement is restricted by court order for the benefit of the child, which judges occasionally approve when no other suitable accommodations are available.
The issue, according to Katharine Sacks-Jones, CEO of the children’s charity Become, is “a national scandal.”
It’s absolutely heartbreaking to learn that so many children are being put in environments that aren’t right for them, she continued.
The Department of Education said: ‘We have banned the placement of children under 16 from unregulated or semi-independent accommodation because it does not meet their needs.
‘Instead, they should live with foster parents or in children’s homes where they can receive the right care – and we are investing more than £260 million to support and expand these homes.’
Ofsted said: ‘There have been no prosecutions of unregistered providers to date. Ofsted has been asking the Department for Education for additional powers to tackle unregistered children’s homes including the ability to directly fine providers that are operating illegally.’
The government would be legislating to give Ofsted more authority to take enforcement action against providers offering unregistered children’s homes, according to the UK’s then-education secretary Gavin Williamson in 2021.