More children in care being sent to live over 100 miles from their communities

The number of children in care living 50 and 100 miles from home has risen by 7% since 2020, government data has shown.

Campaigners have warned against sending children in care to children’s homes and foster homes far away from the people and places that matter to them, saying the moves are often not in the child’s best interests but due to a shortage of suitable homes locally.

They can have a devastating impact on their lives and wellbeing, disrupting their education and relationships with siblings, as well as putting them at greater risk of exploitation.

The figures come as a result of Parliamentary questions submitted by Jake Richards, MP for Rother Valley, ahead of the second reading of his Private Members’ Bill - the Looked After Children (Distance Placements) Bill.

The Bill is calling for clear data collection and reporting from the Government on why children are being moved miles from home, as well as national and local strategies to make sure the right homes are in the right places to keep children in care close to their family, friends, school and community.

Currently, 9% of all children in care are living 50 miles from home and 4% of children are living 100 miles from home. Since 2020, the number of children living in England who were moved out of the country, mostly to Wales and Scotland, has gone up by 9%.

"Every child deserves stability, security, and the opportunity to thrive,” Jake Richards, MP for Rother Valley, said.

“Too many children in care are being placed far from their families, schools, and support networks, making it harder for them to feel settled and supported.

“This Bill is about ensuring that local authorities prioritise keeping children as close to home as possible and, crucially, begin to plan so that children can remain closer to home in the future.

“The government are making great strides in fixing a broken social care system, and I hope they will consider this very modest reform that would greatly strengthen their agenda.”

The proposed Bill links with the #GoneTooFar campaign from Become, the national charity for children in care and young care leavers. Katharine Sacks-Jones, CEO of Become, said it was “unacceptable that we’ve reached a situation where more children than ever are living more than 100 miles from everything they know because of a failure to provide suitable homes locally.”

“These moves often happen without warning and sometimes multiple times a year, leaving children far from friends, brothers and sisters, school and college and feeling lonely and isolated. This only leads to greater risk of exploitation or going missing, with real consequences for their lives and futures.