Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Accepted
Ensure care-experienced young people's full engagement and involvement in social care accountability mechanisms.
Conclusion
The Department should ensure that it is engaging with care-experienced young people in all areas of its work on children’s social care and should encourage local authorities to do the same. The Department for Education, 82 Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission should ensure that care- experienced young people are involved in accountability mechanisms for the quality of children’s social care services and care leavers’ support. (Recommendation, Paragraph 11)
Government Response Summary
The government details its existing mechanisms for engaging care-experienced young people, including the Children and Young People Board and Ministerial meetings, and highlights existing local authority duties and Ofsted practices in inspections.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Department draws on the lived experience and knowledge of its care experienced staff through the Children and Young People Board run by the National Children’s Bureau on behalf of the department. The board has members between the ages of 11 and 25 and meets regularly to discuss policy and delivery with the Department.to reflect on policies and areas of work relating to care leavers. Ministers have also regularly met care experienced young people, to engage with them and hear their views and experiences. Working Together to Safeguard Children set out the duties of local authorities regarding seeking of, and responding to, feedback from children and families about their experiences of services and co-designing services to ensure children from different communities and groups can access the help and protection they need. In May 2025, the Department published a child and family illustrated guide to Working Together and a toolkit to support practitioners to help children understand how to access help, support and protection. The illustrated guide was produced with input from the Department’s children and young people’s social care advisory board. Ofsted will talk to children and young people where possible when conducting inspections, to understand their views on the help and support they are receiving.