Chair's statement: National Audit Office: Children in care

"It is disappointing that the Department for Education cannot show that it has met its objectives to improve the quality of care and the stability of placements for children.

It has no measures that tell it whether the system is working and improving and it has not set targets to improve the quality of foster care, even though 75% of children in care are fostered.

With just 15% of children in care achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grade A*-C in 2012/13 including English and maths, compared with 58% of children not in care, I would have expected the Department to measure whether its introduction of virtual school heads is making any difference to the educational outcomes of children in care.

As demand for care increases and with real long term educational and employment costs of children not getting the right care, it’s important the Department gathers and shares data on what works in the best authorities.

I expect the Department to tell me how it plans to measure its effectiveness in achieving positive outcomes for children in care when it appears before my Committee in January".

Further information

• National Audit Office report: Children in care
• About Parliament: Select Committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees