§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 23 April 2002,Official Report, column 240W, on looked-after children, if he will set out his definition of (a) children in care and (b) children looked-after; and if he will make a statement. [67175]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 8 July 2002]: Children in care are those who are being looked after by the local authority as the result of a care order made by the court under section 31 of the Children Act 1989.
Children looked after is a term used to include both those children defined in (a), and those provided with care by a local authority and placed in accommodation under section 20 of the Children Act (voluntarily accommodated).
§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children have looked-after children status in(a) the Isle of Sheppey, (b) Kent and (c) England. [67703]
§ Jacqui SmithAt 31 March 2001 there were 58,900 looked-after children in England, and 1,770 in Kent. These figures exclude children who were accommodated under an agreed series of short-term placements.
Figures for the Isle of Sheppey are not available.
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 8 February 2002,Official Report, column 1229W, on examination results (children in care), how many of those children who obtained (a) no GCSEs and (b) fewer than five GCSE passes at grade A to C went on to take resits. [67623]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 8 July 2002]: The Department's data on the educational qualifications of looked-after children does not separately identify those children who re-sat GCSE examinations.