Hundreds of Southwark children in care are placed in homes outside of the borough, with babies moved as far away as Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and Medway.

Southwark Council uses 31 companies to house children in care, with 286 children housed out of the borough this financial year.

While some children are placed in London – notably Croydon, Lewisham, Bexley and Lambeth – concerns have been raised nationally that children are being housed away from their community because of a lack of choice in provision.

Earlier this year an all-party parliamentary group raised concerns that children living in distant placements were more likely to go missing and were at a higher risk of physical and sexual abuse, criminality and homeless.

According to numbers provided via a freedom of information request, several children aged between five and nine were housed in Bath and North Somerset, with some aged between 10 and 15 placed as far away as Cheshire East, Derbyshire, Dorest and Durham.

A group of 25 children aged between 10 and 15 were placed in Kent.

The data only showed age groups and did not give a final figure if there were fewer than 10 children in an area.

But Southwark Council’s cabinet member for children, schools and adult care, Cllr Jasmine Ali,  said a child may be placed out of the borough for a “number of reasons.”

“The council always puts the needs of a child first when we make a decision about one of our looked-after children,” she said.

“Children may be placed outside of Southwark for a number of reasons. We will generally try to place young people with family members where possible, and often this means moving outside of the borough. In some cases, the specialist provision required by a child might only be available in a limited number of places around the country. Whatever the reason, the needs, wellbeing, and safety of the child will always drive our decision about the best place for one of our looked after children to live.”

Concerns have also been raised about the higher cost of residential care from private providers, however Southwark Council does not record the cost of housing children out of the borough.