§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children are accommodated in(a) public children's homes, (b) private children's homes and (c) voluntary organisation children's homes. [189451]
§ Margaret HodgeData are not collected on the number of children accommodated in children's homes by the individual categories requested. However, the total number of children placed in children's homes at 31 March 2003 was 6,600.
The term 'children's homes' is defined here as including homes and hostels, secure units, and residential schools that are dual registered as children's homes.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average cost of placement of a 15-year-old in(a) private children's homes and (b) local authority run children's homes was in the last year for which figures are available. [189463]
§ Margaret HodgeFigures on the average cost of placement of a 15-year-old are not held centrally. The only figures we have available relate to the average cost for all children in children's homes in 2002–03. The average weekly cost of a placement in a private children's home was £1,846 and in a local authority run children's home the average weekly cost was £1,812.
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