PhD Studentship: The Right Child in the Right Place: Reducing the Use, and Cost, of Inappropriate Placements for Plymouth’s Looked-after Children

University of Plymouth

The studentship is supported for 3 years and includes full Home tuition fees plus a stipend of £20,780 per annum 2025-26 rate. Applications are invited for a full-time three-year PhD studentship. The preferred start date is 1st October 2025, but requests for a 1st January 2026 start date will be considered.

This PhD studentship is offered by the Plymouth Health Determinants Research Collaboration (PHDRC) who are funded by the National Institute of Health Research NIHR to increase the capacity and capability of councils to engage in research and evaluation. www.plymouth.gov.uk/plymouth-health-determinants-research-collaboration-phdrc & www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/primarycare/public-health/plymouth-health-determinants-research-collaboration.

Nationally children who are looked-after by Local Authorities are being placed far from home which is detrimental for them, and their wider family, and very expensive for Local Authorities. Whilst the preference of children’s services would be to keep children close to their usual home (where safe to do so) and maintain their family and community networks often this is not possible and high cost out of area placements are dictated by market availability.

Plymouth City Council have produced a comprehensive report of the current situation, their next initatives and the issues that they are aware are a problem, for which they don’t yet have the answer www.plymouth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-04/Childrens-Placement-report-Homes-for-our-children.pdf. This PhD will embed the student within Plymouth City Council and the Children and Families Directorate to address ‘How can Plymouth City Council, and other Local Authorities, place ‘the right child in the right place’ to provide the best possible local care and reduce unsustainable costs?’

The research will include:

• Evaluating the initiatives already in place and being developed
• Reviewing how other places have solved similar issues
• Feeding back the above findings to the Children and Families Directorate and listening to their feedback
• Exploring, developing and testing the best ways to embed a research informed culture in a Directorate with high levels of statutory responsibility

Quantitative and qualitative research methods will be used with in a Realist informed approach.

The findings of this PhD will have the potential to develop recommendations not only for Plymouth but also for the many areas throughout the country which face similar challenges.

Supervisors Dr. Cath Quinn www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/cath-quinn; Dr. Oliver Beer www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/oliver-beer; and Prof. Sheena Asthana www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/sheena-asthana will provide expertise in Health Inequalities, Realist Methods, Social Work, Local Government and Health Policy.

There is a requirement to be present in Plymouth City Council directed settings (offices, teams, partner provider organisations). Whilst some home working is acceptable, geographical proximity and willingness to be in a workplace environment are required. A professional qualification or training and experience in aspects of the PhD e.g. social work, health professional, accountancy etc is desirable.

If you wish to discuss this project further informally, please contact Cath Quinn at cath.quinn@plymouth.ac.uk.

To Apply, please visit the application page.