Vulnerable girls 'sent to unregulated care homes'

Teenage girls in the care of an east London council are being placed in unregistered and inappropriate homes due to a lack of suitable places, it has been revealed.

Barking and Dagenham Council is spending about £1.9m a year on housing just 20 children deemed to be at high risk of harm to themselves or others.

The council said it was reliant on "placements in unregistered/inappropriate registered provisions", according to a new report.

Councillors have now approved plans to build three new specialist children's homes in the borough for up to 16 children at a time.

Jane Jones, the councillor in charge of children's social care, said: "Our aim is to improve care for our children with complex needs, especially girls under 16 who are, or are at risk of, being subject to a deprivation of liberty order due to their multiple complex needs - and whose needs are not being met by the private market."

A deprivation of liberty order authorises the restriction of a child's liberty when a court judges them to be at high risk of harm - it can include 24/7 supervision, limitations on movement, and restraint.

Ms Jones said the borough wanted to reduce its reliance on "unregulated and expensive out-of-borough placements and improve outcomes and stability by providing local, regulated, psychologically informed care".

The council says building the three homes, on council-owned land, will cost more than £10m.

Ms Jones said the Department for Education had offered to fund half of that sum with a grant, although a formal agreement has not yet been signed.

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