Josh MacAlister has pledged action to prevent children in care being placed far from home after government data showed the number of such placements had increased.
The children's minister said the issue would be addressed through the government's plan to reverse the decline in the number of mainstream foster carers in England, which will be published shortly.
MacAlister said the plan would also help prevent unnecessary placements in children's homes, which, he said were happening too often, due to the shortage of foster families.
Children placed increasingly far from home
He made the comments after the Department for Education released data on placement distance that showed that:- 22% of looked-after children were placed 20 miles or more from home as of 31 March 2024, up from 18% in 2015.
- 45% were placed outside of their local authority boundary in 2024, up from 40% in 2015.
- 17% were placed outside of their council boundary and more than 20 miles from home in 2024, up from 14% in 2015.
- Children in foster care were placed an average of 6 miles from home from 2015-24, though the proportion of children in mainstream (non-kinship) foster care placed out of area and more than 20 miles from home rose from 10% to 15% during this time.
- Those in secure or open children's homes were placed an average of 20 miles from home in 2024, down from 22 miles in 2021 but up from 18 miles in 2025.
Children 'robbed of solid foundation for adult life'
MacAlister said the findings showed that children in care had been "let down by years of drift and neglect", adding: "Being distanced from the people and places they have known their whole lives and placed in children’s homes miles away from their family is not only alienating, it robs them of a solid foundation on which to build a fulfilling adult life, a good education and a rewarding career."While not the focus of the DfE data, MacAlister also claimed too many children were being inappropriately placed in children's homes.
As of March 2024, 8,640 young people were in children’s homes – the vast majority in open settings – up from 7,990 in 2023 and 7,100 in 2020, and accounting for 10% of the care population.
Inappropriate residential placements 'harming relationships'
MacAlister added that inappropriate residential placements were "causing real harm to the relationships and connections that children in care deserve and...breaking the financial sustainability of the system".The increasing costs of accommodating looked-after children - due to the scarcity of appropriate placements in the right places and rising levels and complexity of need - is one of council's biggest cost pressures.
Since becoming children's minister in September this year, MacAlister has repeatedly said that reversing the decline in the number of foster carers in England was key to improving young people's experience of the care system, including by offering them choice over their placement.
The number of mainstream – non-kinship – approved foster care households in England declined by 10% from 2021-24, to 33,745, with the number of approved places shrinking by 8%, to 70,465, over that time.
Minister vows to reverse decline in number of foster carers
In his latest statement, MacAlister said foster carers offered "belonging, consistency and the chance for young people to thrive close to their schools, friends and the places they know"."We are gripping the issue and I will be publishing a detailed plan to improve and expand fostering very soon," he added. "My commitment is that we are going to get more foster carers recruited and reverse the decline that is seeing far too many children forced to live far from home in institutional rather than family home settings.”
MacAlister has previously said that the government would be committing "tens of millions" to this initiative, though it is unclear whether this goes beyond increasing pledges to:- Spend £15m this year to complete the rollout of regional fostering recruitment hubs, designed to make the process of becoming a foster carer easier.
- Allocate £25m from 2026-28 to support the recruitment of 400 more fostering households.
- Devote a share of £560m a share of £560m in children's social care capital funding from 2026-29 to boosting fostering provision, including by enabling carers to extend their homes to accommodate more children.
