The Department does not collect this information centrally. However making sure that care leavers have access to an appropriate range of accommodation options is a priority for Government.
Local authorities are expected to assess and plan for the current and future housing needs for all local people, including vulnerable people such as care leavers. They have statutory responsibilities for providing care leavers with the support they need until they are 21, or longer if they remain in an approved programme of education or training. Where care leavers are under 18 but have moved on from foster care or a children's home, their responsible local authority has a duty to make sure that they are maintained in suitable accommodation.
To support and improve access to suitable accommodation for care leavers my Department has taken a number of recent steps. Last year we jointly published guidance with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) on how agencies should work together to prevent youth homelessness with a focus on enabling care leavers to have access to the full range of supported accommodation for young people in their area. This combines with our ongoing work on PSA 16 which sets out the Government's aim that the most vulnerable adults are offered the chance to get back on a path to a more successful life by increasing the proportion of socially excluded adults in settled accommodation and in employment, education or training. Care leavers are one of the four groups the PSA specifically focuses on.
This work includes targeted intervention with local authorities across the country who have the lowest percentages of care leavers in suitable accommodation; DCSF staff based in regional Government offices and CLG jointly conduct these visits.
Our work on the National Youth Homelessness Scheme also monitors homelessness acceptances by care leavers on a quarterly basis and has an ongoing visit programme to local authorities to help them improve their approach to preventing and tackling youth homelessness in order to support young people, including care leavers, who need help with their transition to independence.