Care system 'on its knees' with children moved miles away from home area

Hundreds of children in care were placed more than 20 miles away from home in Lancashire, figures published last year show.

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A children's charity has said the care system in England is "on its knees" and is not meeting the needs of young people.

Figures from the Department for Education show 1,754 children in care in Lancashire as of March 2024-347(20%) of which were placed more than 20 miles from home.

A year earlier 362 of 1,870 (19%) children were away from home.

More than 83,000 children were in care across England as of March 2024, with 18,040 (22%) placed at least 20 miles away from their home.

Katharine Sacks-Jones, chief executive of Become - a charity for children and young people in care - said children being moved due to a lack of suitable homes nearby is "simply not good enough".