Recommendation 11

We agree with the Government that comprehensive reform of the children’s social care system is urgent and necessary. We are concerned, however, at the receding prospect of timely delivery of reforms and note that, despite the additional funding that the Government announced in autumn 2022, the Government’s plans do not provide sufficient short-term financial support to local authorities to enable them to maintain the quality of services that vulnerable people need and deserve. As the CMA has noted, there is a need to ensure profits made by private sector firms from public sector services are not “materially higher than” expected, and are appropriate and fair to the services provided.