Secure Welfare Coordination Unit
securewelfare@hants.gov.uk
01962 846 432
The Secure Welfare Coordination Unit (SWCU) is a small unit grant funded by the Department for Education (DfE) for the purposes of administering placements and collecting data on secure welfare. It is not a legal entity and therefore does not have a Director.
The SWCU provides a transparent, dedicated single point of contact for local authorities in England and Wales, to arrange secure welfare placements and streamline the process of finding the most suitable placement matching the individual needs of each young person needing secure care. The SWCU is committed to ensuring the best outcomes for all children needing secure placements. Data from the Secure Children’s Homes is collected by the SWCU on a daily basis. Referrals are then sent to homes if a secure place is available. The home will then indicate whether they can accept the young person.
Referral forms and supporting documentation should be sent securely to the SWCU only.
Meeting the Criteria For Secure Accommodation
Secure accommodation welfare placements are available for young people that meet the criteria set out in Section 25 of the 1989 Children’s Act for placements in England, or in section 119 of the Social Services and Well-being Act 2014 for placements in Wales. These Acts stipulate that a child being looked after by the local authority may not be placed and if placed may not be kept, in secure accommodation unless it appears:
- That he/she has a history of absconding and is likely to abscond from anything other than secure accommodation; and
- If he/she absconds he/she is likely to suffer significant harm (Section 25(1)(a) / Section 119(1)(a)); or
- If he/she is kept in anything other than secure accommodation he/she is likely to injure him/herself or other persons (Section 25 (1)(b) / Section 119(1)(b)).
If the criteria are satisfied, there is a mandatory duty on the Court to make the order. Re: M (Secure Accommodation Order) (CA) (1995) 1 FLR. 418
When making an application to court if at the time you are unsure if the placement will be in Wales or England, you should fill in the application form so that it is expressed in the alternative so that the application is made either for a Section 119 order or a Section 25 order and then you can tell the judge on the day of the hearing where the placement will be and therefore what sort of order you are asking the court to make.
If the court made a Section 119 order for Wales but then the child needed to be moved to England it would require an application back to the court to get a section 25 order to authorise the placement in England, and vice versa for Welsh placements.
Making a Referral
To make referrals for young people that meet the Section 25 / Section 119 criteria please download and complete the SCH Referral Form. If the young person is aged between 13 and 17 this is the only referral paperwork required.
Completed SCH Referral Forms should be securely emailed to the SWCU at securewelfare@hants.gov.uk. The SWCU can also be contacted on 01962 846432 for more information on secure welfare placements.
The SWCU’s working hours are Monday to Friday 08.30 – 17:00. If you require assistance outside of these hours, please contact the individual Homes directly using the contact details found on the Our Homes page. A secure welfare referral form will need to be completed for the home and a copy also sent to the SWCU.
+ Referrals for 10-12 Year Olds
To make a secure welfare referral for a child aged 10 up to 13, approval from the Secretary of State (local authorities in England) or the Welsh Ministers (local authorities in Wales) is required. For children under 13 please download and follow the relevant approval process below.
Welsh Guidance (Welsh)
The process can be worked in parallel to the SWCU referral process. Please indicate where prompted on the SWCU referral form that the placement is for a child under 13. Completed SWCU referral forms and the supporting documentation for children under 13 should be securely emailed to securewelfare@hants.gov.uk.
The Department for Education have published guidance for English local authorities seeking approval to place children under the age of 13 in secure care.
The SWCU’s working hours are Monday to Friday 08.30 – 17:00. If you require assistance outside of these hours, please contact the individual Homes directly using the contact details found on the Our Homes page. A secure welfare referral form will need to be completed for the home and a copy also sent to the SWCU.
+ Emergency 72 Hour Placements
For emergency cases, the Assistant Director may apply the 72 hour rule and authorise in writing the holding of a young person for up to 72 hours.
Please indicate that an emergency 72 hour placement is required on the SCH Referral Form. Liaison with the SWCU will identify the most appropriate accommodation for the young person.
The Authorisation letter template below should then be completed, on the letterhead of the referring authority, and issued to the manager of the home identified with the SWCU.
Completed SCH Referral Forms and the supporting documentation for an Emergency 72 Hour placement should be securely emailed to the SWCU. The SWCU can also be contacted on 01962 846432 for more information on secure welfare placements.
The SWCU’s working hours are Monday to Friday 08.30 – 17:00. If you require assistance outside of these hours, please call the unit on 01962 846432 where a message facility will inform you of where there is Welfare bed availability. Contact should then be made directly to the Secure Children’s Homes with vacancies with your request. A Secure Children’s Home referral form will need to be completed for the Home and a copy also sent to the SWCU.
+ About the SWCU
The Secure Welfare Coordination Unit (SWCU) is a small unit grant funded by the Department for Education (DfE) for the purposes of administering placements and collecting data on secure welfare. It is not a legal entity and therefore does not have a Director The SWCU provides a transparent, dedicated single point of contact for local authorities in England and Wales, to arrange secure welfare placements and streamline the process of finding the most suitable placement matching the individual needs of each young person needing secure care. The SWCU is committed to ensuring the best outcomes for all children needing secure placements. Data from the Secure Children’s Homes is collected by the SWCU on a daily basis. Referrals are then sent to homes if a secure place is available. The home will then indicate whether they can accept the young person.
Neither the Secure Welfare Co-ordination unit, nor the Secretary of State has a direct role in the commissioning of secure places for individual young people on welfare grounds. It is for the local authority to come to a view as to the appropriate placement for an individual child, and for the person with management responsibility for the Secure Children’s Home with available places to decide whether to take the child. Under The Children’s Homes Regulations (England) Regulations 2015, (Regulation 14(2)(a)) – the registered person (i.e. the provider of the home) must ensure that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the homes statement of purpose. A secure home will therefore consider the existing cohort of young people in their care, their needs, the skills and ability of the staff to manage and meet their needs when considering any new application.
Individual local authorities should have their own placement policy based on the Department for Education’s Care Planning Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010. There are currently 13 secure children’s homes (SCHs) in England – 12 run directly by the local authorities in which they operate; one run by a charity. The SCHs take referrals from local authorities across the country seeking a secure placement under section 25 of the Children Act 1989, and also provide accommodation for some children who have been found guilty of crimes and given a custodial sentence. The final decision on making a welfare placement remains with the placing local authority and the manager of the receiving secure children’s home.
While there is no absolute duty to provide secure accommodation in their area, there are general duties on local authorities to provide accommodation for looked-after children. In particular, section 22G of the Children Act 1989 imposes a duty on each local authority to take steps that ensure so far as reasonably practicable that they are able to provide accommodation in their area that meets the needs of children who are looked after by that local authority and fall within the section 22G(3) criteria. This is commonly known as the ‘sufficiency duty’. In taking steps to secure that outcome the local authority must have regard to the benefit of having a number and range of accommodation providers that is, in their opinion, sufficient and capable of meeting different needs. Statutory guidance has been issued on securing sufficient accommodation for looked after children.
A major benefit of the unit is that detailed information from all the Secure Children’s Homes in England and Wales, including each home’s specialisms, and the young people placed in them will be held in one place. This has the advantage of ensuring that all options for a young person can be considered enabling informed decisions about the most appropriate placement for them. This much-needed data will prove invaluable in terms of learning what is working and where changes may be needed. We will also be building national profiles for England and Wales on the young people referred including complexities and needs.
The Secure Welfare Co-ordination Unit will maintain up to date availability information across all Secure Children’s Homes providing secure welfare care. The centralized unit will also be able to gain a much clearer understanding of the volume, demand and need profile of young people needing secure welfare accommodation. The unit will collect data on all aspects of referrals for young people and the outcomes of those referrals, including where there have been challenges to making placements. This coordinated information will be shared with the sector for its strategic development and will ultimately support Ministers to make decisions on the future of the sector.
Please contact the SWCU if you have any questions or comments about our service. We welcome any feedback and look forward to working alongside all Local Authorities and Secure Children’s Homes. The SWCU’s working hours are Monday to Friday 08.30 – 17:00.
Secure Welfare Co-ordination Unit
Hampshire County Council,
Capital House,
48-52 Andover Road,
Winchester,
SO23 7BH.
Telephone: 01962 846432.
+ SWCU Annual Reports
The Secure Welfare Coordination Unit (SWCU) has been collecting data on welfare placements in secure children’s homes since 2016. Data from the secure children’s homes is collected by the SWCU on a daily basis. The unit collects data on all aspects of referrals for young people and the outcomes of those referrals, including where there have been challenges to making placements. This data is used by the sector and by the DfE to build greater understanding of what is working and where changes may be needed in the future
A monthly summary of the data on is available to view in annual reports. The summary includes data on secure welfare bed availability, referrals, placements before secure and placements on exiting secure. This data is experimental and has developed over time in order to support the sector. The use of the SWCU is not mandated so this data does not cover each placement and it is only based on referrals received through the SWCU. This is not an official statistical release, it is collected over a short time series and is intended only to provide summary of the secure welfare estate.
2020 Report
2019 Report
2018 Report