Sufficiency Strategy for Cared for Children 2026-2030

- Fostering
- Supported lodgings
- Kinship care (family, friends and connected foster care)
- Children's homes
- Staying close
- Young persons supported accommodation pathway
- Unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC)
- Secure accommodation

Fostering

Fostering is the most used form of care with 59% of our children living in fostering households, with 46% of these children living in in-house provision. 14% of our children are living in kinship arrangements and 13% in independent provision, as at September 2025. The most recent North East average for foster care placements is 69% and the England and Statistical Neighbour average is 67%. Gateshead benchmarks favourably at 73% (note this is the total of Kinship, IFA and In House Fostering).

The number of children living in in-house foster care has continued to increase with an ongoing reduction in the use of independent fostering provision. However, we continue to experience challenges in relation to foster carer sufficiency due to foster carers retiring, taking a break, and beds being blocked due to the increasing complexity of needs of children. We have experienced a reduction in foster carer recruitment, and this is a trend that is being experienced nationally and by Independent Foster Agencies.

The age profile of children living in foster care broadly reflects the age profile of cared for children overall. Half of all children living in in house foster care are aged 10-15; 75% of all children living in independent fostering provision are aged 10-17.

Based on our numbers of children in care, we need more foster carers so children can be cared for in a family setting. The foster carers required moving forward are not limited one particular cohort of children or the meeting of one particular area of need. We require foster carers that can offer solo placements, carers that can offer homes to large siblings groups in addition to carers who can support our teenage young people. We have a large teenage cohort of young people and alongside the need to for foster carers to support these young people, they will also require additional skills around support teenage young people.

In Gateshead we offer fostering clusters which support children to be in a shared cared arrangement, this can sometimes avoid our children and young people going into residential care. Therefore, foster carers who could support a shared care arrangement are also needed.

We also have Mockingbird Constellations which offer increased peer support to our foster carers in addition to the increased offer of sleepovers with the Hub carers. This support allows the foster carers to build an extended support network around themselves and the children and young people they care for.

We do have a need for respite carers who can offer respite to foster carers in addition to families who have children with complex needs and require some additional support in the form of respite care.

We have developed an offer of community foster carers, who work directly with our foster carers and support placement stability. Additionally, they will work into the community to support edge of care work and can support children and families rather than those children coming into care.

When our young people turn 18, our foster carers offer Staying Put where the young people can continue to live in the foster home up until they are 21 years old. Whilst this offers excellent support to our young people, there is an effect on foster care sufficiency whilst young people extend their time within the home. There were 21 children in Staying Put arrangements as at January 2026, 14 of which were in-house fostering and 7 were independent foster carers.

Supported lodgings

When looking at our cohort of young people leaving care, it was noted that we have a gap in our provision for our young people post 16 years that may not have the offer of a Staying Put arrangement or where they cannot manage a supported accommodation provision or independent living. We are developing a supported lodgings service to support this gap in resource. Ofsted registration is pending and recruitment campaigns are underway.

Kinship care (family, friends and connected foster care)

Children who are cared for can be placed into the care of a family member or friend, provided a viability assessment concludes that this would be safe, viable and in the child's best interests (the assessment determines whether the living arrangements are suitable for the child and are defined in the Fostering Regulations). In these circumstances the family or friend can be temporarily approved under Regulation 24 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations as a kinship foster carer for a 16-week period and in exceptional circumstances, this may be extended for a further 8 weeks. During this period, the family/friend/connected person(s) providing kinship foster care will be paid a fostering allowance for the child identical to that received by qualified foster carers.

At the end of October 2025, there were 78 children in kinship arrangements. The age profile of these children again, broadly reflects the age profile of all children in our care. The largest proportion in Kinship arrangements are children aged 10 to 15 (42%), followed by children aged 5 to 9 years old (24%). 14% of children are aged 2 to 4 and 10% aged 16 to 17 years old. 9% of children are under 2.

We also recognise that to provide safe and effective care, kinship carers may need additional specialist support. If care arrangements are in danger of breaking down or the child has additional needs, examples of advice and support include mediation and counselling services helping children maintain family time with parents, other relatives or important adults, therapeutic support; Child and Young People's Services support as required.

A family group conference is an approach to planning and decision-making which builds on the strengths, skills and experience of the wider family as well as professionals. We use family group conferences to help find solutions to difficulties a family might face in bringing up and caring for children. Examples of when a conference or family network meeting could be used include issues with family relationships, family time, children's behavioural difficulties and school attendance.

We are committed to ensuring that no child should become 'cared for' because of inadequate housing. Housing services provided by the council and its partners can make an important contribution to promoting kinship care arrangements by assisting carers to secure suitable housing. Housing Authorities and registered social landlords are engaged to ensure that their policies recognise the importance of the role performed by kinship carers and that whenever possible, kinship carers living in social housing are given appropriate priority to move to more suitable accommodation if this will prevent the need for a child to become cared for. Our lettings policy incorporates measures to ensure that preventative actions can be taken to avoid the need for a child to become "cared for".

We recognise the importance of continuity of education for children and young people. Advice and guidance on educational matters for children cared for by family and friends is provided, by directing carers to the most appropriate helplines or services. Young people aged 16 -19 in kinship placements may be entitled to the Government funded bursary scheme. Priority schools' admissions are available for those children who were in Local Authority care but who are now placed with their family under a Child Arrangements Order, Special Guardianship Order or Adoption Order

Kinship carers may sometimes feel isolated when they take on this role, particularly when they are dealing with the complex needs of vulnerable children for which they had not planned. Getting together with others in a similar position can often be an invaluable source of support in itself. Support groups are a valuable way of helping carers to access information about services which will help them to care for the children, as well as ensuring that they are treated with understanding and respect and receive emotional support. Therefore, we will continue to work with its partner agencies and the voluntary and faith sectors to find ways to encourage peer support and access to support groups. There are currently support groups for our kinship carers that are delivered across the borough.

Children's homes

Based on our number of children in care, the demand for children's home provision and the complexity of children entering care, we continue to invest in the development of new smaller children's homes so children can live closer to home.

At January 2026, there are 48 independent children's homes beds in Gateshead, across 15 homes. Of these, only 13% are used by Gateshead Council for Gateshead children. The remaining beds are used by regional local authorities. None are used by local authorities outside of the North-East region. This often makes it difficult to identify local children's home provision for our children and young people. 

The diagram below shows the distribution of provision in Gateshead, utilization of provision by Gateshead Council and additional provision in development as at January 2026:

As of December 2025, Gateshead was supporting 47 children and young people in residential provision, representing 9.4% of all children in our care. This remains below the national average of 12% of children in care living in residential children's homes. Of those in residential provision locally, 7% were placed in external homes, while 2.4% were living in Gateshead's in‑house residential homes.

Despite maintaining a lower rate of residential use than the national picture, demand continues to exceed our internal capacity. Of our children in residential care 35 children (74%) are placed in external residential homes, compared with 12 children (26%) living in Gateshead Council's own homes. This level of external reliance presents ongoing challenges around placement availability, cost, stability, and proximity to local support networks.

The needs profile of children living in residential care is significant. Eighty‑nine percent (42) of the current cohort have an identified Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND). The most prevalent needs are Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs (20%), followed by Cognition and Learning needs (13%). Residential homes also support young people who are Unaccompanied Asylum‑Seeking Children (UASC) and those who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), further highlighting the complexity of the cohort.

Age demographics also reflect shifting patterns of need. Among children living in residential homes, 55% are aged 10-15, while 43% are aged 16-17. Notably, 75% of 16-17‑year‑olds in residential care live in Gateshead Council's own homes. This indicates relative strengths in meeting the needs of older young people through internal provision, while younger adolescents continue to drive demand for external placements.

These patterns collectively underline the importance of expanding and diversifying Gateshead's in-borough residential offer. Increasing local provision will improve placement choice, reduce reliance on out of borough homes, support better local outcomes, and enhance stability for children with increasingly complex needs.

The map below shows current provision of children's homes across Gateshead:

We encourage all providers to contact us prior to developing new homes in Gateshead to ensure that proposals are in line with our local needs and gaps in provision and due diligence is considered. We influence and shape homes that are being developed and offer challenge at the planning application stage when homes are not in line with our needs. We ask providers operating in Gateshead to work in a Gateshead First Approach, which results in more of our children and young people living closer to home. This oversight will support Ofsted's commitment to prioritise applications where there is a clearly identified local need and/or current placement options are insufficient.

As children and young people's needs become more complex, we increasingly require children's homes that care for a smaller number of children (1-2 children). Providers proposing to develop anything outside of this should discuss their proposals with us. It is important that we have the right type of homes, that are ethical and offer transparency, in the right locations that can provide stable, trauma informed care, by a skilled, knowledgeable and experienced care team at a sustainable cost.

Staying close

We know that as young people move on from a children's home, being able to still live close to places and people they know can help young people feel good and make sure they are supported with everyday life. With Staying Close, those young people who would like to live independently have the opportunity to try this out for up to 6 weeks in a flat that is set up for our young people.

We will agree with our young people what sort of things we will support them with and how many hours of support they will get. Help around how to live independently includes support to:

• manage your own property
• look after yourself
• stay in education or training
• manage money, like sticking to a budget and paying bills
• stay safe where you live

We need our young people to be doing or have already done an Independent Living Skills Program at their children's home. This will help the young people learn some of the basic skills they need when they leave the children's home, such as cooking or sticking to a budget. We will help the young people build on these skills when they move.

As set out in the Children's Wellbeing and School Bill, the program is designed to support eligible "former relevant children" up to the age of 25, where their welfare requires it, with:

• finding and keeping suitable accommodation,
• accessing services relating to:
  • health and wellbeing
  • relationships
  • education and training
  • employment; and
  • participating in society.

A dedicated Staying Close Co-Ordinator works with the young people and supports around all areas of Staying Close.

We also offer monthly "Life Nights" sessions for care leavers - an informal, social way for care leavers to build independence, confidence and essential life skills aligned with the four Preparing for Adulthood areas:

• Accommodation and Living Skills
• Education/Training/Employment
• Health and Wellbeing
• Relationships/Community

Further on, young people are supported to live on their own for 12 months via an Introductory Tenancy Service, which provides up to 30 tenancies with support for 18-25 year olds and is a key service for moving young people onto independent living. This service is currently undergoing a review and this will inform future sufficiency needs to ensure young people have enough housing options help them move on to living independently.

Young persons supported accommodation pathway

Supported accommodation for young people represents 5% of all children in care provision. As we support our young people to develop independence skills and prepare them for leaving care, we require local providers to continue to develop Ofsted registered supported accommodation provision that can grow based on our fluctuating needs. We encourage all providers to contact us prior to developing new supported accommodation provision in Gateshead to ensure that proposals are in line with our local needs and gaps in provision and due diligence is considered. It is important that we have the right type of provision, that is ethical and offers transparency, in the right locations that can provide stable, tailored support, by skilled, knowledgeable and experienced support staff, at a sustainable cost. This oversight will support Ofsted's commitment to prioritise applications where there is a clearly identified local need and/or current placement options are insufficient.

In 2024, we refreshed our commissioning plan for supported accommodation for 16-21 year olds, to meet levels of need and demand through the following provision (76 units in total):

• Emergency accommodation 16-21yrs (20 units)
• Complex needs supported accommodation 16-21yrs (8 Units)
• Medium needs supported accommodation 16-17 years (5 Units)
• Medium needs supported accommodation 18-21yrs (13 Units)
• Dispersed supported housing 16-17yrs (9 Units)
• Dispersed accommodation 18-21yrs (21 Units)

All contracts were awarded, with the exception of the dispersed supported accommodation for 16-17 year olds, which is an outstanding need that remains a priority for the council.

Further single homelessness provision is due to become available early in 2026 and will provide an additional 10 units into the pathway for 18-25 year olds, which in turn will deliver more move on options for 16-17 year olds and take the total units within the commissioned pathway up to 86.

An overview of how this provision fits with our wider housing options available to young people can be found in Appendix 3, My Housing Journey. This shows the full range of provision and support available until a young person can live independently in their own home.

Unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC)

We support our UASC young people that either present to the local authority or via the NTS scheme. Currently our UASC young people that are assessed to need support from a foster care will be offered foster care, either in-house or via an IFA. Those older UASC are able to be supported in shared properties with floating support. Those UASC that are post 18 yrs also sit on the young person's supported accommodation pathway, where supported accommodation is made available.

Sufficiency for the overall supported accommodation pathway will remain under review on a quarterly and annual basis to inform any further need and demand and commissioning activity.

Secure accommodation

Secure care accommodation is a type of residential care that restricts the freedom of children and young people under the age of 18 years. It is for the small number of children and young people who may be a significant risk to themselves or others in the community, and where it has been determined by a court that their needs and risks can only be managed in a controlled setting. Secure care aims to provide intensive support and boundaries to help young people move forward positively in their lives while keeping them and/or other people safe.

There are individually managed secure children's homes throughout England and Wales encompassing a range of services within a secure environment that support the individual needs of the children in their care. They provide placements for boys and girls aged between 10 and 17 and provide full residential care, educational facilities and healthcare provision. In addition there are Local Authority run secure children's homes in the region. It is a small number of children or young people that we accommodate within these settings in any one year, therefore it would be a single referral to the secure portal where the referral would be shared to those settings who could best meet the needs of the particular child or young person.