Introduction
Semi-independent and independent accommodation are types of properties where looked after children do not receive any day-to-day care. When care is provided to children in a residential setting, those who run the establishment are required by law to register the accommodation as a children’s home with Ofsted and meet nine quality standards. The absence of care is therefore the distinguishing feature of semi-independent and independent accommodation.
In September 2021, new secondary legislation came into force which has the effect of prohibiting local authorities from placing looked after children who are aged 15 and under in any setting which is not regulated and does not provide care.
Although the care review’s interim report supported the discriminatory secondary legislation and the development of standards which omit care, and this fact was raised by counsel for the Department for Education in the High Court in February 2022, its final report – published just three months later – recommends that every child in care receives care. The care review suggests an implementation date of 2025, however. Our founder Annie Gibbs is a member of the steering group #KeepCaringTo18 and in June 2022, Article 39 and others wrote to Nadhim Zahawi, the then Education Secretary, asking for the earliest implementation of this recommendation; we have not yet received a reply.
There are different types of children’s homes, some looking after children for short periods, others for months and years. Every children’s home must have a statement of purpose which explains the kind of care it offers to children. The secondary legislation governing children’s homes contains modifications for two different types of children’s home – those providing short breaks for children and families, and secure children’s homes. The average age of children living in children’s homes is 14.6 years.
Instead of requiring those who run semi-independent and independent accommodation to register as children’s homes, and follow the children’s homes quality standards (with any necessary modifications), the Department for Education decided in 2021 to develop separate standards which omit any requirement to provide care to children. During the High Court hearing in Article 39’s legal challenge, counsel for the Department for Education said the government had estimated it would cost around £500 million to have sufficient children’s homes in England.
More than £140 million is being spent by the government on introducing its care-less standards and three-yearly Ofsted inspections of only a sample of properties. This government expenditure includes a 14 months’ awareness-raising campaign (put out to tender with an anticipated contract price of £950,000) with a purported goal of not disrupting the market.
The Department for Education wants semi-independent and independent accommodation to be collectively known as ‘supported accommodation’ and in this latest consultation document it proposes four categories:
- Single occupancy – which includes bedsits and flats.
- Shared accommodation/group living for looked after children (aged 16 and 17) and adults who were formerly in care.
- Shared accommodation/group living for looked after children (aged 16 and 17) and adults who were not formerly in care.
- Family-based accommodation/supported lodgings for looked after children aged 16 and 17.
The Department for Education also proposes that mobile and ‘non-permanent settings’ such as caravans, barges and boats may be registered as a form of supported accommodation for looked after children aged 16 and 17. Its consultation document states that, “In some limited and exceptional circumstances this type of provision might be the right option for young people”. It states that the following accommodation would be very unlikely to meet the new standards for supported accommodation: “Provision which is not appropriately secure, isolates young people and is located such that a young person cannot access local services such as education and health”. That the government has not categorically stated that supported accommodation will not meet the new standards if it is not safe, children are isolated and it is far away from children’s education, health care and other services speaks volumes about how low expectations have fallen over recent years in the state’s ‘care’ of highly vulnerable children.
Children who live in supported accommodation
Research undertaken for the Department for Education asked managers in 22 English local authorities about their use of semi-independent and independent accommodation. Only one of the local authorities “thought that generally [children] in unregulated provision had fewer complex needs” than other looked after children.
Separate research for the Department for Education showed that, on 31 March 2019:
- 29% – almost 1 in 3 – of children who were living in unregulated accommodation were the subject of a care order.
- More than half of looked after children living in unregulated accommodation were from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
- 40% of children living in unregulated accommodation were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (compared to 6% of children in care overall).
- Most looked after children living in unregulated accommodation were boys.
Latest data from the Department for Education shows that, on 31 March 2021:
- 30% of looked after children living in semi-independent accommodation and 31% living in independent accommodation were the subject of a care order.
- More than half of looked after children living in unregulated accommodation were from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
- 34% of children living in semi-independent accommodation and 32% living in independent accommodation were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
- Most looked after children living in semi-independent and independent accommodation were boys.
- 8% of looked after children living in semi-independent accommodation and 8% living in independent accommodation were disabled.
In May 2021, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel published its annual report for 2020 which included a brief summary of an analysis of 48 incidents where children had entered care in adolescence and then died or suffered serious harm. The annual report noted that: “children were coming into care in adolescence having experienced long-term parental abuse and neglect, with significant trauma” and “where adolescent children came into care owing to previous involvement in gang-related activities or criminal exploitation, these continued once in the care system”. The summary also noted, “high levels of placement breakdown occurred as a result, with children placed in emergency unregulated placements. Mental health and other support were disrupted”.
Increased use of supported accommodation
Ofsted’s national director for regulation and social care has described as “staggering” the high number of looked after children now living in semi-independent and independent accommodation. She has commented: “While it may be true that supported accommodation is right for some children, it’s hard to believe that it’s the right option for as many as 7,000 children in care. Few would argue that the lack of suitable care provision across England is not one of the main drivers for the growing reliance on unregulated, semi-independent provision”.
Between 2008 and 2010, amendments to primary and secondary legislation were made in order to reduce the number of children leaving care before the age of 18, and to make it more difficult for local authorities to move looked after children from regulated care settings to unregulated semi-independent and independent settings:
- The Children Act 1989 was amended in 2008 to require a review of a child’s care prior to them being moved from a regulated, care placement to ‘other arrangements’ (unless such a move was necessary and urgent to safeguard the child’s welfare).
- Secondary legislation introduced in 2010 (in consequence of changes to the Children Act 1989 in 2008) requires the approval of a nominated officer before a child in Year 10 or Year 11 at school (aged 15 and 16) can move placement. This is to avoid disruption in education.
- The 2010 secondary legislation also provides that local authorities may move looked after children to unregulated accommodation only if they are satisfied that it is suitable for the child, they have visited the accommodation (unless not reasonably practicable) and the child’s independent reviewing officer has been informed.
The Green Paper which preceded the changes to primary legislation in 2008 explained:
“Young people in care should expect the same level of care and support from their carers that others would expect from a reasonable parent. The local authority responsible for their care should be making sure that they are provided with this. We should not expect young people to make changes that would be difficult for any 16 year old – let alone for vulnerable 16 year olds – where the local authority has had to assume responsibility for their care.
“No local authority should be able to make a significant change, such as a move from a care placement to so called ‘independent’ accommodation, without both the proposal being rigorously scrutinised under the established care planning process and the child confirming that they understand the implications of any proposed change and positively agree to it”.
Despite the legislative measures above, and the Green Paper ambition, there has been a substantial increase in the use of semi-independent accommodation over the past 15 years – its use has more than tripled over this time, from 2% to 7% of looked after children. In 2007, prior to the legislative changes set out above, 5% of all looked after children lived in what is now termed ‘supported accommodation’ (incorporating semi-independent and independent accommodation). On 31 March 2022, that proportion had increased to 9% of looked after children.
| Year | 31 March 2007 | 31 March 2020 | 31 March 2022 |
| Number of looked after children living in independent accommodation | 1,700 | 1,100 | 2,030 |
| Proportion of all looked after children living in independent accommodation | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| Number of looked after children living in semi-independent accommodation | 2,610 | 3,870 | 5,440 |
| Proportion of looked after children living in semi-independent accommodation | 2% | 5% | 7% |
| Total number of looked after children living in semi-independent and independent accommodation (non-care settings) | 4,310 | 4,970 | 7,470 |
Latest official data shows that 4 in 10 looked after children aged 16 and 17 live in unregulated, non-care settings, a 5% increase on 2021. If this increase continues year-on-year, within a decade it will be the norm for every looked after child aged 16 and 17 to live in a non-care setting. The Children’s Commissioner for England warned in 2020:
“This trend towards moving the majority of 16 years olds into unregulated settings holds another danger, and that is the implicit acceptance that this is roughly the right age to move towards ‘independence’. This narrative might suit corporate parents which are faced with placement shortages, but it clashes with the needs of children and is at odds with parenting outside care, where parents are generally heavily involved in their children’s lives well up to and beyond them turning 18.”
Children who have died
At least 34 children have died while living in semi-independent and independent accommodation in England over the past 6 years. These figures are taken from:
- An answer to a parliamentary question in February 2022, which revealed that 29 looked after children aged 16 and 17 died while living in semi-independent and independent accommodation across the five-year period 2016/17 to 2020/21.
- Information obtained by Article 39 through a freedom of information request, showing that 4 children died while living in semi-independent accommodation in 2021/22. We were told the children were aged under 1 and 16/17. (The Department for Education refused to give precise information about the age of each child who died. It also told us it does not have data on the number of children who died while living in independent accommodation in 2021/22).
When BBC Newsnight asked the Department for Education about the 14 looked after children who had died in unregulated accommodation between April 2018 and September 2020, it was told that 53% of the children had taken their own life.
A serious case review was published in 2021 following the death two years before of 17 year-old ‘Sarah’ (not her real name) who had been in care since she was 15 years old. Sarah was known to be at risk of sexual exploitation, and one of the men (‘Peter’) who abused her was arrested and was subject to bail conditions not to have contact with her, yet he continued to do so. Sarah died in June 2019 from an epilepsy seizure at Peter’s home. She had epilepsy from infancy, and her family and specialist epilepsy nurse and doctor had expressed serious concerns about her living in independent accommodation. Her family was especially worried that there would be no-one there to administer emergency medication should she have a seizure. The report states, “when Sarah went into independent living, where she was most at risk, a mattress alarm was not purchased. The reason given [was] that the flat given to Sarah did not have a phoneline. This calls into question the suitability of this placement. The family felt it was wholly unsuitable and made this known on a number of occasions”. Sarah was never happy living in the ‘independent flat’. The report explains: “From the outset Sarah was not happy in the placement and this was echoed by her family. Sarah did not feel safe and there was no night-time support for her. She regularly absented herself from the flat or had Peter staying there on the basis that she did not feel safe. Sarah remained in this placement until March 2019, when she presented herself as homeless. Sarah’s voice at this point could not have been stronger”. After Sarah died, it was discovered that she had not been collecting her medication for around six months. One of the serious case review’s recommendations is that local authorities ensure that looked after children who have a chronic illness or condition live in places where their medical needs are met.
A pre-inquest hearing into the death of Asiah Kudi, aged 20-months, who died from starvation and influenza after being left alone for six days in a flat in a YMCA complex, heard that the baby’s mother received just two hours of support a week from the charity. The baby’s mother, Verphy Kudi, had left the accommodation to celebrate her 18th birthday with friends, and failed to alert anyone to Asiah being alone. She was convicted of manslaughter and given a nine-year custodial sentence in 2021. Verphy had been looked after from the age of 15 due to concerns she was being sexually exploited. She had lived in a children’s home, then she and Asiah moved to live in a mother and baby foster care placement, after which they both went to live with maternal grandmother. In September 2019, they moved into ‘supported independent accommodation’. By then, Verphy was treated by children’s social care as a child in need, the serious case review report stating that she did not wish to be looked after. The serious case review sums up the final months of baby Asiah’s life when she was living in supported independent accommodation with her mother, who was still a child herself (the review uses pseudonyms): “During the last 2/3 months of Delta’s life, once they left [maternal grandmother’s] home in September, Delta’s life experiences deteriorated, with Mother seemingly having little boundaries and ignoring those that the supported accommodation tried to impose. It is horrific to learn of how Delta must have suffered in the last weeks of her life, being left alone on 7 occasions at age 18-20 months, in a very cold flat, without heating, food or drink. Given she was mobile, she was repeatedly either at great risk of accidents on these occasions, or was strapped helpless into her buggy.” The YMCA office was staffed during the week between the hours of 9am and 5pm. Staff had no idea that Asiah had ever been left alone. In a section titled ‘adultification’, the serious case review report observes that: “One of the notable features about Mother is the mature way she presents, along with her intelligence and perceptiveness. Both she and [maternal grandmother] have spoken about how this meant that she felt unable to share her problems, and expose the child inside who by autumn 2019 was as she describes on the verge of breakdown. She also spoke about how frightened she was at the prospect of living independently and coping on her own, and how lonely she felt. Again, she did not share such emotions with professionals, who judged her as being this mature capable parent, despite her youth and background traumatic experiences.” The serious case review author quotes from the work of Jahnine Davis: “Davis points out that if we are not seeing Black children as children, and not therefore ‘acknowledging the innate vulnerability all children have, if we are dehumanising Black children; professionals are potentially increasing their risk of harm, or the harm Black children are already experiencing’”. An inquest will take place into Asiah’s death this year.
In June 2021, a coroner made a Regulation 28 Prevention of Future Deaths report in respect of 17 year-old Kesia Blaine Waller who had taken her own life while living in “a residential housing unit for vulnerable young people aged 16-21”. Among the coroner’s findings was that staff had not been provided with tools to seek to rescue children and young adults from ligatures.
Safeguarding concerns known to local authorities
In May 2021, Article 39 made a freedom of information request to every local authority in England (152 in total) on the number of allegations which had been made against people working with children in their area across the preceding three financial years – 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21.
We asked local authorities to provide data in respect of different types of institutional settings, including semi-independent and independent accommodation, using the following question:
The number of child abuse and/or neglect allegations against people who work with children notified to your Local Authority Designated Officer in respect of a child living in… [list of different types of settings].
We received data for the three-year period from 64 local authorities in England (around one-third). This showed there were at least 334 allegations in total against adults working in semi-independent and independent accommodation.
In June 2021, Article 39 was provided with a copy of local authority freedom of information responses provided to UK News Media in respect of safeguarding concerns in unregulated and/or unregistered accommodation. On 15 December 2020, the news agency wrote to all 152 local authorities in England asking for data on the number of looked after children placed in unregulated and/or unregistered accommodation anywhere in the United Kingdom about whom they had received a safeguarding concern between 6 January 2019 and 9 December 2020 (703 days). It further asked for details of the children concerned – their age, sex and ethnicity – and for data on the types of safeguarding concerns.
42 of the 68 responses from local authorities (fewer than a third of all local authorities contacted) provided UK News Media with data about safeguarding concerns raised about looked after children placed in unregulated and/or unregistered accommodation across the time period. The data shows that local authorities were notified of safeguarding concerns in respect of at least 763 looked after children.
The youngest looked after child about whom there was a safeguarding concern was aged two years (presumably placed in unregulated accommodation with their young parent). The oldest was aged 19 (4 of the 42 local authorities reported safeguarding concerns raised in respect of 18 or 19 year-olds).
Where ages were given, children aged 16 and 17 were consistently in the majority. For example:
- The local authority reporting the highest number of safeguarding concerns (in the North West) said these related to 152 children. Of these 152 children, 92% were aged 16 or 17.
- One local authority (in the Yorkshire region) reported safeguarding concerns about 40 children. Of these, 38 (95%) were aged 16 or 17, one was aged 15 and the other child was aged 14.
- A London borough reported safeguarding concerns in respect of 111 children, all of whom were aged 16 and 17.
- In another London borough, safeguarding concerns were raised in respect of 65 children. Of these, 97% were aged 16 or 17 and the remainder (two children) were aged 14.
- A third London borough was aware of safeguarding concerns in respect of 8 children, all of whom were aged 17.
- A local authority in the North East reported that safeguarding concerns had been raised in respect of 16 children over the time period – all were aged 16 or 17.
Only one of the 42 local authorities indicated that children younger than 16 accounted for the vast majority of safeguarding concerns. This East Midlands local authority reported that safeguarding concerns had been raised in respect of 30 children, of whom 27 (90%) were aged 15 and younger.
Half of the 42 local authorities (21 in total) provided disaggregated data showing the nature of the safeguarding concerns. The Table below shows the breadth of safeguarding concerns. The total figure in respect of the number of times particular concerns were raised (789) is higher than may be expected, given this data is from only 21 local authorities (concerns were raised in respect of 763 children across all 42 local authorities providing data). This is because often there were multiple concerns expressed for each individual child.
In the local authority reporting the highest number of children (152 in total) living in unregulated and/or unregistered accommodation where safeguarding concerns had been raised between January 2019 and December 2020, 60 (39%) were said to present with a single need whereas 92 (61%) were recorded as having multiple safeguarding needs. There were concerns about:
- Physical abuse in respect of 90 children aged 16/17 and 7 children aged 14/15.
- Emotional abuse in respect of 78 children aged 16/17 and 10 children aged 14/15.
- Sexual abuse in respect of 62 children aged 16/17 and 7 children aged 14/15.
- Neglect in respect of 34 children aged 16/17 and 5 children aged 14/15.
- Sexual exploitation in respect of 22 children aged 16/17 and 4 children aged 14/15.
In another local authority (a London borough), safeguarding concerns had been raised about 13 children living in unregulated and/or unregistered accommodation. Concerns relating to one of these children fell into the categories of female genital mutilation and grooming. The concerns listed for three of the 13 children were: non-recent abuse, online abuse, physical abuse, child trafficking, emotional abuse and sexual abuse. These 13 children were all aged 16 or 17 (9 girls, 4 boys).
A local authority in the North West of England reported that safeguarding concerns had been raised in respect of 34 children, all aged 16 or 17 (28 boys, 6 girls), but there had been 49 child protection strategy discussions in respect of these children over the designated period.
The Table below gives the total number of times each safeguarding concern was raised in respect of children (the headings were provided by UK News Media).
| Nature of safeguarding concern – unregulated and/or unregistered accommodation | Number of times raised (n=21 local authorities) | % of total concerns raised |
| Physical abuse | 171 | 22% |
| Emotional abuse | 128 | 16% |
| Sexual abuse | 102 | 13% |
| Child sexual exploitation | 89 | 11% |
| Neglect | 84 | 11% |
| Non-recent abuse | 71 | 9% |
| Child trafficking | 42 | 5% |
| Child criminal exploitation | 37 | 5% |
| Domestic abuse | 37 | 5% |
| Grooming | 13 | 2% |
| Female genital mutilation | 4 | 0.5% |
| Bullying & cyberbullying | 3 | 0.4% |
| Other | 8 | 1% |
| Total | 789 | 100.9% |
Of the 42 local authorities which provided data to UK News Media, only 7 reported receiving no safeguarding concerns (4 of these said they had no children in unregulated and/or unregistered accommodation during the designated period).
In research undertaken for the Department for Education to inform policy development in this area, only 3 of 22 local authorities (14%) said they had no concerns about the unregulated providers they use to provide homes for their looked after children.
We summarised the responses from young people (the government had commissioned an academic review of the consultation responses but omitted young people’s contributions from this). Accounts of abuse and neglect shared by young people with the Department for Education via this 2020 consultation included:
- A young man attending a consultation discussion facilitated by Article 39 (observed by a civil servant) reported that he had been the victim of a serious sexual crime by an agency member of staff at his unregulated accommodation; his perpetrator was arrested after the boy went back to his children’s home to tell the manager there what had happened to him.
- Young people spoke of the availability of drugs, threats from gangs and being influenced (exploited) by adults living in the same unregulated accommodation.
- A 17 year-old was rushed into hospital with damage to her lungs due to mould in the property.
- Another 17 year-old had to be rescued from his property (‘dispersed housing’) by the police due to drug gangs. The boy had been in care since he was aged 3.
- A young person became ill with pneumonia due to having no heating in his unregulated property.
One young person explained the risks of children not having adults caring for and protecting them:
Another young person said:
Children’s Commissioner for England review – 2020
In 2020, the Children’s Commissioner for England reported that 30% of children aged 16 and 17 living in semi-independent and independent accommodation go missing, compared to 12% of looked after children the same age who live in care settings. The Commissioner also found that a “significant proportion” of unregulated accommodation is “very poor quality” and reported children suffering violence, hunger, accommodation which lacked basic facilities such as cutlery, pans or duvet covers, and children being exposed to criminal and sexual exploitation. Children aged 16 and 17 “frequently [lived] alongside vulnerable young adults (usually up to 25 years) battling with their own difficulties, including those struggling with homelessness, mental ill health, addiction, or even transitioning from prison back into the community”.
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
In February 2022, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its investigation report on child sexual exploitation by organised networks. This noted that: “The use of unsupervised, unregulated accommodation for children in care aged 16 and 17 who are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, sexual exploitation remains a serious concern and must be stopped by the Department for Education. New standards for the use of such accommodation must include measures to reduce the risk of sexual exploitation faced by children in these placements”.
Children running away and going missing
More than three-quarters of the 41 police forces who provided evidence to a parliamentary inquiry on children who run away and go missing expressed concern about children being sent out of their home area to live in unregulated accommodation, and the risks this exposes children to.
Media investigations
BBC Newsnight’s 2019 investigation into ‘Britain’s Hidden Children’s Homes’ revealed:
- A 17-year-old, Lance Walker, was killed in supported accommodation in 2016. His death exposed the lack of information-sharing between local authorities and the paucity of provision for very vulnerable young people.
- A young woman reported having to use her coat and blanket as a duvet and being “freezing cold” in supported accommodation. She was moved from a foster home, where she was happy, to accommodation late at night. Her bedroom was downstairs; there were no curtains and no bedsheets. She felt desperate and very alone.
- A young woman felt “dumped and alone” in supported accommodation; she became depressed and anxious for the first time. Other young people in her accommodation used drugs and drank alcohol in their rooms; this young woman had never experienced this before and found it all “a massive shock”.
- The Children’s Commissioner has dealt with cases of children in unregulated accommodation without any bedroom furniture apart from a mattress on the floor, and having to share toilets with adults they don’t know.
- Young people suffered violence from staff and from other young people. They spoke of running away many times and of suffering serious sexual and criminal exploitation.
Other media organisations, including Sky News and the Guardian newspaper (here and here), have similarly conducted investigations and found older children living in desperately unsafe situations.
In June 2022, the BBC reported that a member of staff employed by the company Calcot had been jailed for sexually abusing a 17 year-old looked after girl after she moved from one of the company’s children’s homes to a ‘supported living home’, also run by Calcot. After the abuse, the girl started to self-harm and tried to take her own life. The BBC reported: “When asked by the BBC on the steps of the court, the former office worker said he didn’t know why he had been allowed such responsibility at the Calcot home”.
Children not in education or training
In March 2021, the Together Trust sent freedom of information requests to every local authority in England asking about looked after children living in unregulated, non-care settings who were not in education or training. It found that 67 councils were responsible for 3,253 children aged 16 and 17 who were not in education, employment or training for all or some of the time. The charity’s research further revealed that looked after children living in a non-care settings are significantly over-represented among children not in education or training:
- In Solihull, 43% of children living in unregulated accommodation were found not to be in education or training.
- Trafford Borough Council reported that 57% of children living in unregulated accommodation were not in education or training.
- 60% of children looked after by the London Borough of Greenwich and living in unregulated accommodation were not in education or training.
Article 39 obtained all of the consultation responses to the Department for Education’s first consultation on unregulated accommodation. We summarised the responses from young people (the government had commissioned an academic review of the consultation responses but omitted young people’s contributions from this). Young people explained the difficulties of completing their education while living in a non-care setting:
“My local authority was poor so didn’t have many nice places for me to go. I ended up in a hostel at 16 while doing my A-levels. There was no upper limit in the hostel, so there were adults there, and I remember my room didn’t have a lock on it.”
“Living on your own, you struggle to set your own rules, like sitting down and doing your homework. If you are young, you are really going to struggle with keeping focused with your education.”
Providers of supported accommodation
Research for the Department for Education found that 76% of unregulated properties used as homes for looked after children (the vast majority of whom were aged 16 or 17) were run for profit.
The Competition and Markets Authority found that care-less accommodation is the most profitable within the children’s care system. Its analysis of the 15 largest providers of children’s homes and fostering services revealed average operating profit margins in 2020 of:
- 35.5% for unregulated accommodation, with £330 profit per placement per week.
- 22.6% for children’s homes, with £910 profit per placement per week.
- 19.4% for fostering agencies, with £159 profit per placement per week.