Along with 29 other Local Authorities Plymouth City Council has adopted ‘care experienced’ as a local protected characteristic. Care experienced is defined as covering anyone who has lived experience as a child in local authority care. Whilst it does not currently have the same statutory basis and legal protections as those protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act, we have made a corporate commitment to treat it as though it does. The profile that follows is based on individuals currently or recently in our care. There will be many more care experienced individuals living in our city, those that left our care, years, or even decades ago, and those who have been in care elsewhere in the UK, or abroad.
On the 31st March 2023 there were 500 children in our care. Demographic data indicates that there were 274 boys and 226 girls, 107 (21%) were 16 years and over, 221 (44%) aged 10 -15, 93 (19%) aged 5-9, 57 (11%) aged 1-4 and 22 (4%) under 1 year old. The majority 468 (94%) were white, nine were from mixed or multiple ethnic groups, nine were Black African, Caribbean, or Black British and eleven from other ethnic groups. Nine (2%) were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. These proportions are broadly comparable with the data for all English Local Authorities (±2%), except for those aged 10-15 years (+6%), 16 years plus (-5%) and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (-7%).
Abuse or neglect (78%) was the most common category of need, a significantly higher proportion than for all English Local Authorities (65%). Parental illness or disability (7%), or Child disability (5%), Absent Parenting (3%), Family in Acute Distress (2%) or Family Dysfunction (4%) were the other recorded categories. A full care order was in place for 319 (64%), interim care orders covered another 103 (21%), there were 27 (5%) placement orders and 50 (10%) voluntary agreements. These proportions are broadly comparable with the data for all English Local Authorities data (±2%), with the exception of full care orders (+7%) and voluntary agreements (-9%).
The rate of children in our care per 10,000 children aged under 18 years is 96 which is significantly higher than the England figure of 71 and more than our previous peak of 95 in 2021. We took 185 children into our care in 2023, significantly less than we did in 2018 (213) which was our peak year in the last 5 years. We have taken more children per 10,000 into care every year in the last 5 years than the all England rate, but the difference has grown smaller since our peak year in 2018 (+51%) and was (+35%) in 2023. Last year 177 children left our care, the highest figure since 2018, we consistently have more children leaving care than the England rate.
A strong link between the extent of deprivation of local authorities in England and their numbers of children going into the care system through the family courts has been uncovered by researchers at Lancaster University. The study found that for every one unit increase in the standardized Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) English index of multiple area deprivation, the number of children in care proceedings in English family courts increased by around 70% . Plymouth has 29 LSOAs ranked among the most deprived 10% in England.
Of the 500 children in our care in 2023, 299 (60%) were accommodated within our boundaries, significantly more (+4%) proportionally than the England figure. The remainder 201 were accommodated outside our boundaries but less than 20 miles from home, of these 123 were more than 20 miles from home. We accommodated 166 within our own provision but private provision was required to accommodate 251 children, a significantly more common requirement than the all England proportion (+10%), voluntary sector (24) was slightly less commonly used than the all England proportion (-1%), parental provision (37) made up the balance .
Overall, 332 children were placed with foster parents and 19 were placed for adoption. 106 were in secure units, children’s homes or semi-independent living accommodation. Parental or other placement or residential settings accounted for the remaining 43 children.
Children of all ages looked after in Plymouth were 3% less likely to have had their annual health assessment, which was a significant improvement on the 2022 figure of 18%. The proportion having their teeth checked by a dentist remains a cause for concern at 28% less likely than the national average. However this is a citywide problem affecting the whole population with working age adults only 2/3 as likely to have seen an NHS dentist as the national average for that cohort.
Specific date for care leavers is not available at local level but at national level 16-17 years olds are around 5% less likely than all age groups to have had either their annual health assessment or to have had their teeth checked by a dentist. Local data on immunisations shows that children of all ages looked after in Plymouth are 13% less likely to have their immunisations up to date, this is disappointing as in 2022 they were 5% more likely. At national level this figure was 7% lower for 16-17 years olds.
Desk research suggests that by far the biggest health issue for Care Leavers is mental health. The current system of mental health support for children in care and care experienced young people is inadequate, with long waiting lists and high thresholds for those wanting to access support . The strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) is used to assess children’s mental health. In 2022 SDQ data was captured for 58% of children aged 5 -16 looked after in Plymouth, proportionally considerably fewer than we held data for 5 years ago (83%) of those more than half (57%) are recorded as giving cause for concern.
A specific point mentioned by Barnardos in their report “A care system that cares: Lessons for the Independent Review of Children's Social Care”, is that accessing care records can be a traumatic experience capable of triggering many past emotions including feelings of abandonment and betrayal . Many workers, particularly those working with teenagers, are not offering the type of advice and information they need, for example in relation to sex or relationships.
Research has long demonstrated the benefits of education include better physical and mental health, avoidance of risk behaviours, lower rates of unemployment and increased earning potential, particularly post-secondary education.
Educational outcomes for the care-experienced are in general poor, much higher numbers of looked after young people leave school at the age of 16, and compared to the national average only a small percentage go on to study at university . Care-experienced students are less likely to study STEM subjects, and are underrepresented in higher status universities. This may mean that they are less likely to locate graduate-level employment, progress to postgraduate study, and access high-skilled employment.
The most recent figures for Plymouth show 39% of care leavers aged 17 and 18 and 46% of those aged 19 to 21 not in education, training or employment (NEET), compared with young people locally (4.4%) they are around nine times more likely to be NEET . Specific data is not available at the time of writing for children in our care, but for children in need generally, which incorporates children in care, the proportion achieving grade 4 or above in English and Mathematics is 18.2%, around 4% fewer than the figure for all English authorities.
High rates of exclusion and truancy are evident within the looked-after population generally, and is linked to poor education performance and future risk behaviour such as offending, substance misuse, social exclusion and unemployment. The persistent absence rate for children in need fell by 5% from 2020/21 to 2021/22 but was 5% higher in Plymouth than in than across all Local Authorities in England. Missing out on school can result in missing out on work experience placements and on opportunities to develop confidence, interpersonal skills and a sense of achievement through academic and non-academic activities.
Despite an increased policy focus on education and career options, care leavers continue to face challenges and disadvantages in education, employment and training. Most encounter obstacles to finding and sustaining career options in the early years after care, and for some this can persist for years after, increasing risk of long-term unemployment, poverty, and social exclusion.
Young people (those aged 16 to 24 years) have a lower participation in the labour market than older people. They are also less resilient to shocks in the labour market than older people, such as the financial downturn of 2009/09 and the Coronavirus pandemic. Care-experienced young people face these same challenges but compounded by their specific challenges and vulnerabilities.
Research shows that where care leavers are in work and training it is often casual or temporary employment, or low-level, short term training and education courses . Institutional barriers such as benefits regimes and a lack of transport and childcare services can offer additional challenges to finding and sustaining participation .
Success transitioning to employment may be dependent on an adequate overall support network, including continuous care from a single supportive adult, work colleagues and supervisors. But while apprenticeships are seen as a good employment option for young people, care leavers can often be put off by the low levels of pay and the entry requirements. Taking an apprenticeship can leave them financially worse off than being unemployed.
Housing remains a key concern, with some young people reporting that they have been expected to live in places when they leave care which are unsuitable and feel unsafe . In 2023, whilst 88% were in suitable accommodation, nine children aged 19 to 21 years, left our care into accommodation that was not considered suitable. The number of children aged under 18 years was recorded as five or less which is a significant improvement as it was eighteen in 2022.
The sudden withdrawal of care agencies while having to cope with the emotional and practical upheavals of adapting to living alone, are major challenges. Housing may be a greater priority for care leavers than careers, and that experience immediately after leaving care exerts a strong effect on the ability of young people to access and sustain involvement in education, training and work.
The stigma attached to ‘being in care’ means that children in care do not always want to confide in friends. This can heighten the feelings of being alone and mean that even if there are other children who have been through a similar situation for example in their school, they cannot reach out to them. Care-experienced young people can experience stigma when accessing services, from health, to housing, to employment .
Care leavers also face social exclusion due to their experiences of life in care, and the adjustment after care. These may include excessive dependence, weakened or non-existent networks of support, stress and anxiety, and a personal identity often dominated in a restrictive way by their care-experienced status and resulting stigma. They are more likely to have difficulty gaining employment, work unskilled jobs, have weak networks, lower earnings, and lack preparation for independent living.
Being in care can make it difficult for some children to participate in activities that children not in care take for granted. This includes going on school trips or visiting friends’ houses.
Lack of continuous support may result in fractured networks for young adults leaving care, limiting who can be called on for support. These experiences can lead to an unwillingness to commit to new relationships, particular important in the workplace.
Studies on care leavers have shown that resilience is promoted by stability in care, opportunities for a delayed transition to adulthood, participation in life decisions, and access to social support . In a Community Care survey of 800 children’s social workers in 2021, 79% said that their caseloads were either ‘completely unmanageable’ or ‘hard to manage’. In Plymouth in 2020, 21% of children in care had two or more changes in Social worker in the preceding 12 months, 37% had one change and 42% had no changes, Plymouth performed better (-7%) than the national average in this respect.