4th Report - Children’s social care

The government commits over £2 billion over the current spending review period, including £1.57 billion for the Families First Partnership Programme rolling out from April 2025, and will update Parliament on implementation plans and timelines for legislative and non-legislative reforms.

The government states that DfE already publishes statistics on non-Children Looked After spending on its Children’s social care dashboard, providing data to compare early and later-stage interventions, and proposes to use this metric in a new Local Government Outcomes Framework.

The government will publish a Child Poverty Strategy in autumn and is already undertaking several specific actions, including expanding Free School Meals, investing in social care and housing, and extending the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme, to address child poverty.

The government commits to closely monitoring the impact of its children's social care market reforms, updating Parliament on their progress in the usual way, and sharing formal evaluation reports with the Committee as they are published.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will place a duty on local authorities to assess sibling relationships and support contact or placement together. The department is exploring options for collecting data on sibling separation and contact.

The government committed to delivering a Kinship Financial Allowance Pilot as part of a larger £555 million investment and stated it is continuing to invest £40 million to support kinship care.

The government will issue updated statutory guidance for Virtual School Heads and designated teachers, providing a clear framework and updated sections on previously looked-after children. However, it will not extend VSHs' statutory duties beyond advisory at this stage.

The government details multiple steps to improve the children's home workforce, including improving the manager registration process, using workforce data to understand challenges, exploring capital funding for provision, and committing to review qualifications, standards, and training access for the sector.

The government details its existing mechanisms for engaging care-experienced young people, including the Children and Young People Board and regular meetings with Ministers, and highlights local authorities' duties to seek feedback.

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.

The government details substantial new and continued funding commitments for prevention and early intervention, including a £300 million increase for the Families First Partnership Programme and a total £555 million investment, directly addressing the need for further resources. It also agrees on publishing data on early intervention spending.

The government commits to continue developing best practice guidance for Family Group Decision-Making (FGDM) and to monitor its impact through the Families First Partnership Programme's oversight arrangements and annual local authority data collection after the new legal duty commences.

The government outlines a multi-pronged strategy including updated statutory guidance, multi-agency Practice Principles, embedding reforms through the Families First Partnership Programme, committing to specialist training for professionals, and strengthening multi-agency working through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

The government states it is investing over £2 billion in children's social care reform this parliament, meeting the funding level recommended by the Independent Review, and will continue to monitor implementation.

The government agrees with the importance of data for out-of-area placements and commits to improving the evidence base by collecting data on the reasons for such placements, focusing on consistent, timely, and robust collection to distinguish between interest-based and capacity-driven placements.

The government accepts the recommendation, committing to improving the evidence base and collecting data on the reasons for out-of-area placements, specifically distinguishing between those made in a child’s best interests and those due to capacity issues.

The government accepts the committee's conclusion, outlining actions to address market failures, including giving Ofsted greater powers, establishing accountability mechanisms for providers, strengthening financial oversight, and committing to cap profits if profiteering continues.

The government addresses concerns about scrutiny and transparency of the profit cap, stating it would be introduced via secondary legislation and transparency regulations, both subject to parliamentary scrutiny, and notes a technical consultation on the powers has been published.

The government accepts the recommendation, agreeing that further RCCs should be informed by local context and strong engagement with stakeholders, committing to a collaborative and iterative approach based on rigorous evaluation and continuous feedback.

The government accepts the recommendation, agreeing that further RCCs should be informed by local context and strong engagement, committing to a collaborative, flexible, and iterative approach based on evaluation and feedback to ensure RCCs meet diverse local needs.

The government commits to assessing the necessity of a profit cap only if other market interventions fail, by monitoring profit levels, market state, and placement data. It also commits to consulting the Committee on draft regulations should a profit cap be introduced.

The government accepts the committee's conclusion, committing to significant investment of £25 million through the Transformation Fund for recruitment and retention, capital investment for foster carer homes, and developing a national Foster Care Statement of Expectations to improve support and consistency.

The government reiterates its commitment to supporting foster carers, investing £25 million via the Transformation Fund for recruitment and retention, capital investment for homes (related to the Room Makers scheme), and developing a national Foster Care Statement of Expectations.

The government states that existing social housing allocation schemes already allow councils to prioritise foster carers for larger homes and that capital funding supports renovations for foster care homes. They do not commit to funding Mockingbird recruitment hubs or specifically address the 'Room Makers' programme or the planning system recommendations.

The government will launch a £40 million pilot kinship allowance in autumn 2025, providing support to 5,000 children at the same rate as foster care. The pilot will be independently evaluated concurrently, and findings will inform future national rollout decisions.

The government acknowledges the importance of supporting adopted children, highlighting its commitment to the £50 million Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), which is confirmed until 2026-27, and an £8.8 million investment in Adoption England for new support plans.

The government has committed to reviewing qualifications, standards, and access to training for the children’s homes workforce in consultation with the sector.

The government recognises the critical need for mental health support, detailing commitments to pilot multi-disciplinary approaches in 2025-26, review and update statutory guidance on health and wellbeing for looked-after children, expand the mental health workforce by 8,500 staff, and fund a training pilot for mental health support teams.

The government is piloting a multi-disciplinary approach in the South-East in 2025-26 to inform future pilots, including potential co-located mental health services. It is also reviewing statutory guidance on promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children to improve mental health support and trauma training.

The government is reviewing and updating statutory guidance on promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children, specifically to strengthen the role of mental health in health assessments and ensure clearer accountability.

The government committed to introducing new National Standards for Advocacy for Children and Young People and revised statutory guidance in 2025, including new standards on non-instructed advocacy and safeguarding.

The government will introduce new National Standards for Advocacy for Children and Young People and revised statutory guidance in 2025, including new standards on non-instructed advocacy and safeguarding.

The government highlighted its £500 million investment in Family Help and multi-agency child protection, which is expected to support safe family reunification. It also committed to publishing a practice guide for reunification in summer 2026, building on existing regulations.

The government has commissioned Foundations to develop a practice guide for reunification, due to be published in summer 2026. It also notes that existing regulations already provide direction and believes whole system change will have a greater impact than additional guidance.

The government referenced an existing 2011 statutory duty on local authorities to provide short breaks and noted that a Short Breaks Innovation Programme concluded in March 2025, with a report due in autumn 2025. It largely described existing frameworks and past initiatives without committing to new urgent actions to address unmet needs.

The government states local authorities already have a statutory duty to provide short breaks and fund them via core budgets. It also mentions a past innovation programme and that a report on lessons learned will be published in autumn 2025, but does not commit to a new review of availability or direct funding for local authorities.

The government is supporting the children's social care workforce, including through the Families First Partnership Programme for training pathways. It has also consulted on new post-qualifying standards and induction support focusing on practice areas like working with disabled children and their families, and is reviewing qualifications and training access for residential care.

The government is collaborating with the ONS to develop the Safety During Childhood survey, piloting it in 2025-26 with results expected late 2026-2027, to gather better data on child safety and abuse. They are also discussing future funding and will continue to explore opportunities for progress.

The government affirms that clear escalation processes are essential, citing existing frameworks like 'Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023'. They also highlight new Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams being introduced via the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and funding for National Safeguarding Partner Facilitators to strengthen collaboration and accountability.

The government states that tackling child neglect is a key part of the children’s social care reform programme, embedded in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. They describe multiple initiatives including Family Help, multi-agency reforms, early intervention, equipping professionals, and a commitment to reducing child poverty, to address the issue.

The government states that tackling child neglect is integrated into its broader children’s social care reform programme and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. They outline current and forthcoming initiatives like Family Help and multi-agency reforms, indicating these measures collectively constitute their approach rather than committing to a distinct, separate national neglect strategy.

The government confirms the Mandatory Reporting Duty, outlined in the Crime and Policing Bill, is progressing and will come into force one year post-Royal Assent. They commit to working with regulators to communicate the duty and are implementing wider training improvements for social workers and other professionals in child protection and specialist child sexual abuse and exploitation.

The government confirms the Mandatory Reporting Duty is progressing through Parliament and will come into force one year after Royal Assent, committing to work with regulators to ensure clear communication. They also outline substantial plans to improve training for social workers and other professionals, including new standards, induction programmes, and specialist training in child protection and child sexual abuse and exploitation.

The government is amending legislation to allow deprivation of liberty in more settings and is launching a test-and-learn project to improve placements for children with complex needs. They also confirm continued collaboration with Ofsted as it removes single-headline judgements across its remits, including children's social care, aiming to drive better outcomes for children and families.

The government outlines the existing core package of support for care leavers under the Children Act 1989, which includes a Personal Adviser, accommodation, and financial support. It states that the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will strengthen this by requiring local authorities to offer Staying Close support, and a new website has launched to improve awareness.