Select committee: Education Committee
Conclusion 39
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 ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
It is unacceptable that the continuation of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund was not announced until 1 April 2025, leaving families and children uncertain about the future of their support. We also note many concerns about the new funding limits and the impact this will have on children and families. We are concerned that this is an example of the Government making a consequential change in one part of the system without introducing the reforms and mitigations in other parts of the system that are urgently needed. In this case, there is an urgent need to make mental health support available for adopted children, which could reduce pressure on the ASGSF, but the Government has not laid out how this will be achieved, leaving adoptive families very anxious that they will find it harder to access support. (Conclusion, Paragraph 94) 88
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".