Select committee: Education Committee
Conclusion 71
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)
Ofsted and the Department for Education should ensure that the inspection system that replaces single-word judgements does not penalise providers who take on children with complex needs, while also ensuring that children with complex needs are placed in settings with the appropriate skills to provide a high quality of care and support, and that guidance is clearly communicated to providers. (Recommendation, Paragraph 177) Leaving care
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".