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.