§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions she has had with local authorities and other providers of residential child care about standards of such care; and what proposals she has made for tackling current problems.
§ Mr. BowisMinisters and officials have regular discussions with representatives of local authority and independent sector organisations on a wide range of issues including that of residential care for children.
For the Government's report on action in this area, I refer the hon. Member to the Children Act report, copies of which are available in the Library.
§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential child care staff there were with relevant qualifications in each year since 1980; and what information she has about the turnover rate of(a) qualified and (b) unqualified residential child care staff.
§ Mr. BowisInformation on qualifications and turnover of residential child care staff was collected in 1993 by the Local Government Management Board and published in "Social Services Workforce Analysis: 1993 Survey", copies of which are available in the Library. Information on qualifications and turnover of local authority social services staff is not available centrally.