Social services illegally send boy, 13, to live in caravan 200 miles from family

14 October 2023 , 20:37

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The boy and his carers stayed in a caravan

Social services illegally sent a 13-year-old boy to live in a caravan almost 200 miles from his family.

In a damning indictment of the crumbling care system, the scared youngster was shunted from the south-west of England to a remote campsite in the north-west. He is among dozens housed in unregistered facilities by desperate councils because of accommodation shortages, despite a ban two years ago.

Some have been placed in narrowboats, motorhomes and even tents, often a long way from their friends, family and schools. The boy’s journey into the care system began when his grandmother, who had raised him since he was a baby, fell ill.

Last month, the youngster, who cannot be identified, was told to leave a privately-run children’s home for being disruptive. With just seven days’ notice, he was sent 198 miles to a static caravan park. There, he was supervised round-the-clock by agency carers who slept on a sofa-bed in the 22ft-long trailer.

The boy used a wash block

The boy’s gran said he could not use the caravan’s toilet or shower and was forced to use a nearby wash block because of faulty plumbing, a claim disputed by its owners. The grandmother said: “I’ve been so worried. He was sent up there on his own to this campsite and there are no other children around.

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“They’ve said that if he’s lucky he might get moved to a narrowboat. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It’s like he’s just been forgotten about. He’s another number on a list.

“What he’s been most unhappy about is living so far away from me and his friends. He was in tears on the phone after he found out. He said to me, ‘They are sending me up north, Nan’.

“He was crying and crying and I couldn’t even cuddle him. It was just terrible, absolutely terrible. He was so distressed. We both were. I can’t understand why these ­children are treated like second-class citizens. It’s disgusting. I’ve been so upset since he was moved.” Since 2021, it has been illegal for social services to house under-16s anywhere but a registered care home.

But councils have been accused of exploiting exemptions for holidays and activities. The boy is in the care of Bristol City Council which last night described the move as a “short respite arrangement”, equating it to a holiday.

The boy's grandma was too ill to care for him (Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)

Such a move is only lawful if a child has permanent accommodation elsewhere, which the boy did not. The council suddenly pulled the boy from the caravan site when we investigated, 15 days after he moved in.

The gran added: “He was sent there because they had nowhere else for him to go. Whenever I raise concerns I’m told to leave it to the experts. But I don’t know what expert would treat a child like that.”

Tonight children’s charities and MPs blasted the Government. Katharine Sacks-Jones, of Become, said: “This isn’t good enough. We have a care system in crisis and the Government needs to step up and ensure all children have a safe and stable home close to the people they care about.”

Helen Hayles, Shadow children’s minister, added: “Labour has been calling for years for a proper ban on the use of unregistered accommodation, but the Government’s ban is full of loopholes. Labour would put children first and end the grotesque profiteering in children’s social care.”

The boy was housed in a £30,000 Swift Quattro camper by a private contractor called Bear Care Services. It uses two houses, two barges, two narrowboats and eight caravans to accommodate children from 50 local authorities. The company, which had a £1million turnover in its first year of trading, has 12 in its care.

The Bear Care Services vessel for children

The firm said it was not breaking the law, insisting placements in mobile homes or barges do not need to be Ofsted registered. Co-owner Louise McCarter, 53, who runs the business with husband Ian, said: “I cannot talk about individual children or local authorities but the children we house tend to be the children no one else wants. There are cowboys out there in the care business but we are not one of them. We only want what is best for the young person.”

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She added: “The care system is broken, I’ll admit that. But if we weren’t here as a company then these children would be on the streets. In an ideal world, there would be no need for us to exist.”

Mrs McCarter, a mother of five, said the company offered 28-day emergency respite care and “only in exceptional cases would they be here longer than that”. She said children at its sites are taken on outings and supported by trained carers.

Speaking from her home in Lancashire, she said: “It might be that the kids we have caused problems at other care homes and have to be removed. I was in a care home myself as a child and was adopted so I know what I am talking about.”

Freedom of Information requests hint at the scale of the problem. In the 12 months to March, Bristol put 10 youngsters in unregistered accommodation for a total of 1,742 days, costing taxpayers £1.7million. Middlesbrough used unregulated homes 18 times. Worcestershire put 12 young people in such facilities, while Sefton did so on 34 occasions.

Ofsted said anywhere housing children in care had to be registered, unless it was a holiday or activity. The watchdog added: “We know that there aren’t enough homes that meet the needs of children needing residential care. This means that too often children are placed far away from home and in provision that is unlikely to meet standards even if the providers were willing to register.”

It is understood that it would be very difficult to successfully register mobile or temporary accommodation with Ofsted, with it only being considered in exceptionally rare or very unusual circumstances.

The Department for Education said: “Children under the age of 16 must be placed in a children’s home that is registered and inspected by Ofsted, or with a foster carer. We have banned the placement of children in unregulated or independent ­provision because it cannot meet their needs.”

After we raised concerns with Bristol City Council, the boy spent last week with his gran, not knowing when or where he would go next. The council refused to clarify what would happen to the boy. It did not deny it had acted unlawfully. It said: “Our priority where we are supporting vulnerable children and families, is to find solutions that protect health and wellbeing.”

Carolyn Willow is the director of Article 39

Disgrace...but not surprising as system is on its knees

Comment by Carolyn Willow, Director of children's right charity Article 39

What this young boy is experiencing in our so-called children’s care system is an absolute disgrace, though not surprising. The system is on its knees, woefully under-resourced and suffering from abject political neglect.

I hope the boy and his grandmother have access to legal advice, since the law is very clear that children in care under 16 must live in regulated care settings, close to home, if they are unable to live with family or others connected to their family. Shamefully, it is now government policy that caravans, boats and possibly even tents can be registered with Ofsted as suitable homes for children.

Ministers have also given the green light to Ofsted to register bedsits, hostels and shared properties with adult strangers for older children in care. Radical change is long overdue, it is intolerable what children are being forced to endure.

If a company is being paid by this boy’s local authority to provide care, it must register with Ofsted. If it hasn’t done so, Ofsted has powers to take action.

It’s absurd if the company is trying to pass off this caravan as being some kind of children’s holiday or leisure scheme. The law is clear: an establishment is a children’s home if it provides both care and accommodation to children. Of course, parliamentarians did not anticipate that children in care would be housed in caravans and tents.

Nicola Small