Children’s Homes Data Pack

The information in this data pack is predominantly taken from two sources:

The DfE statistical collection about looked after children (SSDA903) as reported by local authorities for the year to 31st March 2012. (See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-looked-after-by-loc… for more information.)

Ofsted data on children’s homes as at 31st March 2013. (See http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report for more information.)

The DfE data relates to all looked after children, and so includes children in fostering placements, residential special schools, respite provision and children’s homes. Where we have indicated that the information in this pack relates only to children in children’s homes this largely excludes information about children placed in residential special schools and unregulated settings (such as hostels or supported lodgings) and those in respite provision.

The Ofsted register data gives the total number of children’s homes as around 2,050. This data has been ‘cleaned’ so as to exclude secure children’s homes, children’s homes that provide respite care or short breaks only, and Residential Special Schools registered as children’s homes. This has resulted in a total number of 1,718 homes. These are the homes that are referred to in the remainder of this pack. Readers should note that there may be a few residential special schools still included in the analysis; similarly, some may disagree with the decision to exclude certain homes from the analysis.

The two data sources above are not directly comparable and so caution is recommended when comparing analysis between different slides. Furthermore, some of the data in this pack draws on ‘self reports’ from local authorities. We are working to improve consistency in these data returns.

The placement of individual looked after children is determined by local authority policies and their arrangements for commissioning placements. Children should be matched to the placement assessed as most likely to meet their needs.