Council's battle to house children in need

Cambridgeshire council is still housing children in unregulated placements

Children in need are still being placed in unregulated homes despite a government ban, a council boss has said.

Cambridgeshire County Council says it is still having to place some children in unregulated homes because there is nowhere else for them to go.

All providers of accommodation for children in care, or care leavers up to the age of 18, are required to be regulated by Ofsted.

But a senior council officer says a shortage of spaces means unregulated placements have to be used.

'Streets'

Martin Purbrick, executive director for children, education and families, told a council committee that during the past seven months there had been between four and six children living in unregulated placements.

He told the children and young people committee meeting that the problem was being caused by a national shortage of spaces.

"In order to make sure we look after children safely we must find an arrangement for them, whether there is a regulated placement or not," he said.

"We can’t let them sleep on the streets, or in placements where we just do not know where they are, or with people we don’t know."

He said the council was dealing with complex children "displaying extremely challenging behaviour" who needed several carers.

'Address'

Mr Purbrick said council staff made regular searces for regulated placements.

He said the council planned new facilities in Cambridgeshire which would offer places for children with complex care needs.

He added: "We are constantly looking for regulated settings for those young people and part of our residential strategy is to address some of that need.

"Hopefully over the next 12 months we will have some resources that we can use for those children, bringing them back into our accommodation, in our county, in regulated settings overseen by Ofsted."