Thousands of children placed in council care more than 20 miles away from home, analysis shows

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thousands of young people have been placed in council care more than 20 miles away from home in the past year as local authorities struggle under the pressure of ballooning costs, new analysis shared with The Independent shows. A third of children in council care in 2023 lived over 20 miles away from their local area, school and family - around 4,600 people in total. An increasing number of young people are being placed in children’s residential homes, which have become crippling expensive for councils, as demand for foster carers is outstripping supply. “But the biggest losers from the current system are young people themselves, with far too many children being placed many miles from home at a time when they are experiencing the trauma of being removed from their family.” A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This report puts into sharp focus how vulnerable children across the country are being let down, placed far away from vital support networks, at massive financial cost to councils and human cost to young people’s lives.