Commentary on Sections Part 1 .Social Care Chapter 1 .Provision of Social Care Services to Children: Restrictions on Profit Section 10 – Local authority duty to secure sufficient accommodation
44.Section 10 amends section 75 (general duty of local authority to secure sufficient accommodation for looked after children) of the 2014 Act.
45.The wording of subsection (1) is amended to specify that the local authority must take all reasonable steps to secure accommodation for children mentioned in subsection (2). The requirement in subsection (1)(a) that the accommodation to which the local authority duty relates is within the local authority’s area is amended to include accommodation that is near to the local authority’s area. This enables local authorities to make arrangements with other local authorities to develop new children’s homes and foster care placements. It acknowledges that there may be circumstances in which a child placed outside of the local authority’s area may be nearer to their home community than if they were placed in a different part of the local authority’s area.
46.New paragraphs (aa) and (ab) are added to subsection (1), specifying that, where the accommodation is with a local authority foster parent or a children’s home, it should meet the relevant requirement described in new section 81A(4)(a) or 81A(4)(b) respectively (to be inserted by section 13 of the Act).
47.Subsection (5) amends subsection (3) to require that a local authority in discharging its duty under subsection (1) must have regard to the benefit of there being a range of accommodation within or near to its area that is capable of meeting the differing needs of the children mentioned in subsection (2). This change from “number of accommodation providers” to “range of accommodation” shifts the focus from the number of providers to the range of accommodation, and whether there are different types of placements in the right locations that are capable of meeting the needs of children. The duty could therefore potentially be met by there being accommodation provided by one provider, such as the local authority itself.
48.Subsections (6) and (7) amend subsection (4) and section 197(1) to amend the definition of “children’s home” for the purposes of section 75, so that the duty applies only in relation to accommodation in children’s homes and with local authority foster parents.