Report: Sir Martin Narey’s independent review of children’s residential care in England

The Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Education asked Sir Martin Narey to review children’s residential care in England.

Sir Martin’s report ‘ Residential care in England‘ looks at the role of residential care within the wider care system and recommends how to improve the outcomes of children in residential care

The data annex ‘Looked-after children in residential care: analysis’ is also available.

Introduction

On 28 October 2015 the Prime Minister told the House of Commons that he and the Secretary of State for Education had commissioned me to review residential care for children.

The Prime Minister told the House that: “We need to make sure that our residential care homes are doing the best possible job they can. That is why I can announce that I have asked the former Chief Executive of Barnardo’s, Sir Martin Narey, to conduct an independent review of children’s residential care, reporting to the Education Secretary and myself, so we can take every possible step to make sure these children get the best start in life.”

I issued a call for written evidence to which there were 163 formal responses. I received many more personal emails both from those who’d submitted formal evidence and from others. I discussed my review with substantially more than one hundred individuals, including children in care and care leavers, and visited twenty children’s homes.

My deliberations were also informed by a survey of Children’s views conducted by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner.

On 31 March 2015, 8,320 children were in residential care. Of these, 5290 (64%) lived in children’s homes, 180 lived in secure units, 1100 lived in hostels (generally as part of the process of leaving care) and 670 lived in residential schools. Although the terms of reference for this review were broad, I have concentrated on the  quality of care for the 5290 living in children’s homes. That is despite the fact that some responses to the call for evidence suggested that all residential special schools, not just those that are registered as children’s homes – and to which my recommendations apply – should be a priority for me. However, it became clear that this sector merits separate and more in-depth consideration than I could achieve in the time available.  As the Director of the Council for Disabled Children told me, we know too little about the children in these schools. I have suggested to the Department for Education that they look separately at residential schools, and I’m pleased that they’re minded to do so.

It was also beyond the scope of this review to consider CAMHS and wider issues relating to the mental health of children in residential care. But I very much welcomed the announcement, in April, of a new Expert Group on the mental health of looked-after children, and under the co-leadership of Professor Peter Fonagy, Freud Memorial Professor of Psychoanalysis, University College London, and Alison O’Sullivan, former president of Association of Directors of Children’s Services.

Residential care in England has had a troubled history. As the historical timeline in my introduction outlines, a number of previous government reviews have been commissioned following the appalling abuse of children in residential settings. Both of the Utting Reports and the Warner report were prompted by revelations about abuse. And there have been scandals elsewhere in the UK, including that at the Kincora Home in Belfast – exposed in 1980 – and the abuse of children in North 5 Wales, which prompted the Waterhouse Report of 2000. More recently the inadequacies of children’s homes in Rotherham and Rochdale and their failure to protect children from sexual abuse has been laid bare by the Times journalist Andrew Norfolk. With that sort of history and reputation, some will be surprised at my conclusion that children living in homes in England are treated overwhelmingly well. Indeed, I have been hugely impressed with a great deal of what I’ve seen. Of course I cannot rule out future failure, including abuse, in individual homes. But I believe we can be generally and genuinely confident about the quality of care in children’s homes….

To download the Review, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-residential-care-in-england