Select committee: Education Committee
Recommendation 32
4th Report - Children’s social care
Published 10 Jul 2025
Addressed to Department for Education
Education Committee Children’s social care All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Department should strengthen the legislation relating to sibling contact to ensure that children in care are placed with siblings whenever it is in their best interests, and that where they cannot be placed together, regular contact between siblings is facilitated and sustained. The Department should collect data on sibling separation in all forms of care and publish this on at least an annual basis. (Recommendation, Paragraph 76)
From: Education Committee, 4th Report - Children’s social care (HC 430), 10 July 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 17 October 2025 (deadline 10 September 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says its reform programme, backed by investment of "over £2 billion", addresses many of the Committee's concerns, and accepts some recommendations while declining others such as a national sufficiency strategy.
- On out-of-area placements and sufficiency, it does "not believe a national sufficiency strategy would be responsive enough" to local needs, and says national reporting of reasons for out-of-area placements would be "costly" to local authorities.
- On a profit cap, it would consider one "only if" other measures are not successful, and "can commit to consulting specifically with the Committee" as part of the process.
- On kinship care, it does not currently plan to extend Pupil Premium Plus or admissions priority, citing "limited evidence", but is exploring collecting data through the school census.
- On a national register of foster carers, it is "considering the potential costs and benefits" and will engage stakeholders to "determine next steps".