Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted
Paragraph: 76
Children's social care reforms lack sufficient short-term financial support for local authorities.
Conclusion
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.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees on the urgency of children's social care reform and has provided £1.5 billion in additional grant for social care for 2024-25, including a recent £500 million uplift. It also committed £165 million over four years to expand children's home capacity and is exploring ways to combat profiteering.
Paragraph Reference:
76
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
14. The Government agrees with the Committee and recognise the pressures that councils delivering children’s services are under, and the need to substantively reform the children’s social care system. In 2023 we published our implementation strategy and consultation ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ which sets out a system-wide transformation of the system. This responds to the Competitions and Market’s Authority study, Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, and the independent care review published in 2022. 15. We have additionally taken action to provide further support to local government to enable continued system delivery while wider reforms are implemented. At the final local government finance settlement, published 5 February 2024, we announced that we are providing £1.5 billion in additional grant for social care through the settlement for 2024-25 compared to 2023-24. This includes the additional £500 million announced on 24 January 2024, having listened to the views of local government. While being mindful of the level of adult social care provision, where possible councils should use this uplift to invest in areas that help place children’s social care services on a sustainable financial footing. This includes investment in expanding family help and targeted early intervention, expanding kinship care, and boosting the number of foster carers. On the 6 March 2024, the Government announced its commitment to invest £165 million over the next 4 years to significantly expand the capacity of the children’s home estate in England. This will improve outcomes for looked after children and unlock productivity savings by reducing local government reliance on emergency provision. The government is also exploring further ways to combat profiteering and bring down costs in the children’s care market.