The following request concerns looked after children and young people under the age of 18 who have been placed in unregulated accommodation for any period of time during the past five years.
1. Please could you provide the numbers of children placed in unregulated settings broken down on a calendar year basis for each of the past five years.
Total number of children placed in “Unregulated Accommodation” (DfE placement types H5 – Semi-independent living accommodation not subject to children’s homes regulations & P2 – Independent living for example in a flat, lodgings, bedsit, bed and breakfast (B&B) or with friends, with or without formal support) for any period of time broken down by calendar year:
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| 88 | 82 | 88 | 101 | 112 | 86 |
Please note these are all young people 16+ and these types of accommodation for young people 16+ are not required to be regulated with Ofsted
2. For each of these years, could the numbers be further broken down according to how many were in independent living (for example flat lodgings/B and B or with friends) and how many were in semi-independent living settings not subject to children’s homes regulations.
Number of children broken down by placement type:
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
| H5 – Semi-independent living accommodation not subject to children’s homes regulations | 63 | 69 | 76 | 89 | 107 | 82 |
| P2 – Independent living for example in a flat, lodgings, bedsit, bed and breakfast (B&B) or with friends, with or without formal support | 32 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 7 | 5 |
Please note that these may not add to the total as a child could be placed in both “Semi-independent living accommodation not subject to children’s homes regulations” and “Independent living for example in a flat, lodgings, bedsit, bed and breakfast (B&B) or with friends, with or without formal support” within the year, therefore being counted twice in the later table but only once in the former table.