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1.      This Council:
a)           
Endorses the principle
that in all actions concerning children, undertaken in whatever
circumstances, the best interests of the child shall be the
paramount consideration.
b)           
Notes that – where appropriate – looked after
children may be placed in residential units registered with and
regulated by OFSTED.
c)            
Recognises that, due to the national sufficiency
crisis, situations can occur whereby a child is unable to return
home, no other family or friends are available, no in-house or
external fostering bed is offered, and no registered residential
units are willing to receive the child, even when a national search
is undertaken.
d)           
Regrets that local authorities are therefore put in a
position whereby some children have to
be placed in unregistered arrangements, which in itself is an
unlawful arrangementand OFSTED are
informed accordingly, due to there being no other available
option.
e)           
Is aware that, within
Milton Keynes, an increasing number of applications to establish
residential homes is being received based on class C3 certificates
of lawfulness or change of use applications to class C2.
f)             
Believes that some of
these applications may be promoted by businesses with little
experience of children’s care, taking advantage of cheaper
costs than elsewhere, particularly London, to place children from
outside Milton Keynes in homes that may receive the necessary
planning permissions but not subsequently be registered with
OFSTED.
g)           
Understands that
– notwithstanding the principle, described above, of the best
interests of the child being the primary consideration - planning
law does not permit the needs of children to be taken into account
when making decisions, instead basing decisions on material
planning considerations and case law, nor that a significant number
of the placements to be approved can be reserved for Milton Keynes
children as the planning system cannot determine who will be housed
there.

2.      That this Council resolves
to:
a)           
noting that the wider
issue of placement cost pressures due to profiteering requires
national change,ask the Chief Executive to reiterate this very
unsatisfactory situation to the attention of the Department for
Education and the Local Government Association; and to request that
remedial action be taken;
b)           
ask the Chief
Executive to write to OFSTED to reiterate our concern that they
should investigate concerns raised about such placements and
settings in a more robust and timely matter and provide feedback on
their actions and highlight we have raised the matter with the
Department for Education; and

c)      invite the Cabinet to
consider expanding its current plans to establish two Council-run
residential children's homes to the extent that resources permit,
but possibly in conjunction with reputable not-for-profit
organisations or adjacent
authorities.
3.            
That this
Council:
a)           
aware that a potential
long-term solution for the Council is to supply within the city
sufficient fully registered and regulated accommodation in which we
have confidence to meet our needs, request that the development of
the city’s next Local Plan, currently being drafted, continue
to examine the projected need for children’s placements and
to how best this might be met through its Housing and Economic
Development Needs Assessment (HEDNA) in line with national policy
requirements, alongside other ongoing efforts and work being
conducted by the Council to tackle sufficiency, alongside the work
being undertaken on the new Draft Placement Sufficiency Strategy
due to reviewed by the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny
Committee later in June; and

b)           
notes that while we
can and should continue to carry out this work locally, this would
not address the placement by other councils of children in
unregistered places in our local authority area, nor the soaring
costs of placements, and that the only way to truly resolve the
crisis in children’s social care is the delivery of national
reform.