Decision details

A Sufficiency Duty was placed on local authorities in Section 22G of the Children Act 1989 and this has been reinforced by the Draft Statutory Guidance Securing Sufficient Accommodation for Looked After Children (2009). The Strategy document sets out how this duty will be met over the next 3 years (2017-20).
The duty applies to each Local Authority providing children's services and the strategy sets out what steps have, and will be, taken to secure, so far as reasonably practicable, sufficient accommodation within its area to meet the needs of children that it is looking after and children whose circumstances are such that it would be consistent with their welfare for them to be provided with accommodation in the local authority area.
The sufficiency duty, therefore, applies in respect of all children who are Looked After. However, it also applies to Children in Need who are at risk of care or custody (sometimes referred to as children 'on the edge of care'). This acknowledges the importance - both for improving outcomes for children and in having sufficient accommodation to meet their needs - of taking earlier, preventive action to support children and families so that fewer children become Looked After.