Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Accepted
Clarify principles of collaborative regional approach, national implementation timeline, and interim local authority support.
Recommendation
The Department has failed to address the problem of local authorities competing for places and the effect that has on driving up costs. A mismatch between the availability and demand for residential home places means local authorities compete for places, particularly when homes need to be found at the last minute. This has contributed to the exponential increase in costs, with residential care costs in England almost doubling over five years to £3.1 billion in 2023–24. Local authorities’ average spend per child had increased to £318,400, from £239,800 in 2019–20 (both figures in 2023–24 prices). Previous independent reviews in 2022 had recommended setting up regional bodies working together to collectively identify and plan for the places needed, as well as to create and commission places. This would help local authorities plan and smooth out volatile levels of demand. The Department accepted these recommendations. However, it has introduced regional cooperation pilots slower than planned, and these pilots do not test the full range of commissioning powers recommended. Stakeholders have identified concerns with regional commissioning, including how this would impact local authorities’ statutory responsibilities to support looked-after children, and the current model does not test the regional creation of places. It remains unclear what model the Department will introduce nationally or when, with its own documentation suggesting it could take ten years. It has offered some other commercial support to local authorities but has yet to determine how this will be rolled out more widely. recommendation The Department should clarify, as part of the Treasury Minute, the principles behind the collaborative regional approach it is working towards, by when it expects to implement its model nationally, and how it will support local authorities in the meantime. 6 1 Caring for looked-after children Introduction
Government Response Summary
The government agrees, outlining that Regional Care Cooperatives (RCCs) will transform children's social care through collective buying power and pooled resources. Following positive evaluations of 2025 pathfinders, the department intends to accelerate the national rollout, aiming for every local authority to be part of an RCC.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Cooperatives will make this a reality by transforming the children’s social care system into one that is coherent, collaborative, and sustainable. RCCs will harness the collective buying power of individual local authorities (LAs) and allow them to gain economies of scale. By pooling resources, improving forecasting, strengthening multi-agency collaboration, building expertise and capability and acting collectively as a single customer and provider, RCCs will transform care available for children. In 2025, two RCC pathfinders were launched in Greater Manchester and the South- East. Ecorys UK have been commissioned to carry out an independent evaluation of the two pathfinders. The first report was published in 2025 and highlights the high potential of the RCC model. Learning from the pathfinders, the department now intends to accelerate the rollout of RCCs. The department’s vision is for every LA to be part of an RCC. The department wants to work in partnership with local areas to drive forward the development of RCCs quickly. On 4 February 2026 the department publicly set out its vision for RCCs, building on the pathfinders. Following this, an Expression of Interest will be launched in Spring, backed by over £10 million of funding, with the expectation to be able to support the setup of up to six new RCCs in 2026. Treasury Minutes Archive1 Treasury Minutes are the Government’s response to reports from the Committee of Public Accounts. Treasury Minutes are Command Papers laid in Parliament. Session 2024-26 Committee Recommendations: 483 Recommendations agreed: 454 (94%) Recommendations disagreed: 29 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number April 2025 Government response to PAC reports 1-4, 6-9 CP 1306 May 2025 Government response to PAC reports 5,10-17 CP 1328 June 2025 Government response to PAC reports 18-22 CP 1341 July 2025 Government response to PAC reports 23-26 CP 1367 August 2025 Government response to PAC reports 27-34 CP 1382 September 2025 Government response to PAC reports 35-42 CP 1404 December 2025 Government response to PAC reports 43-46 48 and 49 CP 1469 January 2026 Government response to PAC reports 50-55 (and 56 BBC) CP 1488 March 2026 Government response to PAC reports 57-61 CP 1533 Session 2023-24 Committee Recommendations: 271 Recommendations agreed: 252 (93%) Recommendations disagreed: 19 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number February 2024 Government response to PAC reports 1-6 [80 Session 22-23] CP 1029 March 2024 Government response to PAC reports 7-11 CP 1057 April 2024 Government response to PAC reports 12-18 CP 1070 May 2024 Government response to PAC reports 19-24 CP 1085 September 2024 Government response to PAC reports 26-29, 31, 33-38 CP 1151 October 2024 Government response to PAC reports 25, 26, 30 and 32 CP 1174 Session 2022-23 Committee Recommendations: 551 Recommendations agreed: 489 (89%) Recommendations disagreed: 62 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number July 2022 Government response to PAC reports 1, 3 & 10 CP 722 August 2022 Government response to PAC reports 2, 4-8 CP 708 September 2022 Government response to PAC reports 9, 13-16 CP 745 November 2022 Government response to PAC reports 11, 12, 17 CP 755 December 2022 Government response to PAC reports 18-22 CP 774 January 2023 Government response to PAC reports 23-26 CP 781 1 List of Treasury Minutes responses for Sessions 2010-15 are annexed in the government’s response to PAC Report 52 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number February 2023 Government response to PAC reports 27-31 CP 802 March 2023 Government response to PAC reports 32-36 CP 828 May 2023 Government response to PAC reports 37-41 CP 845 June 2023 Government response to PAC reports 42-47 CP 847 July 2023 Government response to PAC reports 48-54 CP 902 August 2023 Government response to PAC reports 55-60 CP 921 September 2023 Government response to PAC reports 62-67 CP 941 November 2023 Government response to PAC reports 68-71 CP 968 January 2024 Government response to PAC reports 72-79 CP 1000 February 2024 Government response to PAC reports 80 [1-6 Session 23-24] CP 1029 Session 2021-22 Committee Recommendations: 362 Recommendations agreed: 333 (92%) Recommendations disagreed: 29 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number August 2021 Government response to PAC reports 1-6 CP 510 September 2021 Government response to PAC reports 8-11 CP 520 November 2021 Government response to PAC reports 7,13-16 (and TM2 BBC) CP 550 December 2021 Government response to PAC reports 12, 17-21 CP 583 January 2022 Government response to PAC reports 22-26 CP 603 February 2022 Government response to PAC reports 27-31 CP 631 April 2022 Government response to PAC reports 32-35 CP 649 April 2022 Government response to PAC reports 36-42 CP 667 July 2022 Government response to PAC reports 49-52 CP 722 Session 2019-21 Committee Recommendations: 233 Recommendations agreed: 208 (89%) Recommendations disagreed: 25 Publication