Commentary on Sections Local authority services Section 52: Duty of local authorities to promote educational achievement
225.This section amends section 22 of the Children Act 1989, which set out the general duties of a local authority in relation to each child whom it is looking after. There is a duty in subsection (3) to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child. This section inserts a new subsection (3A) which places a particular duty on the local authority to promote the child’s educational achievement.
226.A looked after child is defined in section 22 as a child in care (i.e. under a care order) or a child provided with accommodation by the local authority in exercise of its social services functions. There is evidence that this group of children achieve significantly less well than their peers, and that this under-performance is due at least in part to a lack of effective support from local authorities as ‘corporate parents’ of these children.
227.The new duty will mean that local authorities will have to give particular attention to the educational implications of any decision about the welfare of any child they are looking after. That might be for instance the need to organise a suitable school placement at the same time as arranging a new care placement.