Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministerial Statement

Reform of Children’s Social Care

02 February 2023 · 20 other contributors

Opened by Gillian Keegan Con East Surrey

Social CareChildren & Families

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Gillian Keegan raised concerns about reform of children’s social care in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.

Key points

  • The Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, Gillian Keegan, announced a consultation and implementation strategy titled "Stable Homes, Built on Love"
  • Keegan highlighted the need for systemic reform in children's social care following visits to children's homes
  • She paid tribute to the hard work of social workers and other professionals involved in child welfare

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Government Statement

Gillian Keegan

The Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, Gillian Keegan, announced a consultation and implementation strategy titled 'Stable Homes, Built on Love', aimed at reforming the children's social care system. The announcement follows visits to children’s homes where she met young people aspiring for better futures. She paid tribute to the hard work of social workers, family support workers, directors of services, carers, and others involved in child welfare. Keegan highlighted the need for systemic change based on reviews like the Care Review and acknowledged the challenges faced by families and children. The government is committed to a £200 million investment to start reforms immediately and build evidence for future roll-outs. The strategy aims to support children within their families, strengthen child protection responses, unlock kinship care benefits, reform the care system, provide support for care leavers, and improve workforce conditions. Specific actions include delivering family help pathfinders, improving leadership in local authorities, publishing a national kinship care strategy, increasing foster carer allowances, consulting on corporate parenting responsibilities, launching an early career framework for social workers, expanding apprenticeships, reducing reliance on agency workers, assembling an expert forum on technology use, and introducing a data strategy. The plan seeks to address urgent issues while laying foundations for future reforms.

Other contributors (20)
  • Name

    Question

    The MP's question or point.

    Minister reply

    The minister's response to THIS specific MP.

  • Helen Hayes Lab Dulwich and West Norwood

    Question

    The MP thanked the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement, criticising the current state of children's social care as a 'radical reset' being necessary due to eroded services, increased poverty, inequality, and profiteering by private providers. She also highlighted that while some additional funding was welcome, it did not meet the scale and ambition needed. The MP questioned the impact on local authorities rated inadequate or requiring improvement, support for kinship carers in a cost-of-living crisis, and measures to ensure meaningful support for 16 and 17-year-olds currently placed in unregulated settings.

    Minister reply

    The Secretary of State responded that this was the start of a journey with evidence-led reform focusing on families and system-wide change. She highlighted improvements since 2017, reducing inadequate local authorities from 30 to 14 and increasing those rated good or outstanding to 85. The minister also announced specific investments in kinship carers, training, and support for them and plans to introduce a financial oversight regime to address excessive profiteering.

  • Robin Walker

    Question

    The MP welcomed the extension of the Early Career Framework (ECF) to the children’s social care workforce and trebling of bursaries for apprenticeships but urged the Secretary of State to provide greater legal status for kinship carers. He also inquired about detailed financial arrangements announced today, especially scrutiny of finances of some children's care homes.

    Minister reply

    The Minister thanked Robin Walker for his comments and confirmed a commitment to implement recommendations from the care review, including providing £9 million training support and over £45 million for family network support packages. She also stated that they would be happy to work with the Select Committee on Education in this area.

  • Ian Mearns

    Question

    The MP welcomed seeing the Secretary of State appear before their committee to discuss implications and questioned whether Treasury constraints influenced her announcement, given Josh MacAlister’s review recommendations costing about £2.6 billion. He argued that urgent implementation was needed due to many children ending up in care and criminal justice systems.

    Minister reply

    The Minister acknowledged the boldness of MacAlister's five-year plan but emphasised laying foundations through a two-year programme with systematic, system-wide reform and evidence-based practices to ensure effective interventions. She committed to coming forward with more after this period.

  • Tim Loughton Con East Worthing Bapesley

    Question

    Asks about adoption levels and sibling groups, noting the fall in adoptions since 2010. He suggests that small funding initiatives could help reunite siblings.

    Minister reply

    Acknowledges the concern regarding siblings being separated in care and outlines plans to increase fostering and adoption places by focusing on national standards for services and investment of £160 million over three years.

  • Emma Lewell-Buck Lab South Shields

    Question

    Critiques the statement as underwhelming, pointing out lack of measures for older children in care and criticises the unsafe placements these youths face.

    Minister reply

    Responds by emphasising the government's commitment to improving standards for care homes and investing £30 million in family finding initiatives. Urges collaboration with Labour to improve outcomes for vulnerable children.

  • Edward Timpson Con Crewe and Nantwich

    Question

    Welcomes the statement's funding but urges not to reinvent previous successful projects like Mockingbird and highlights the importance of leadership in local councils.

    Minister reply

    Acknowledges the importance of evidence-led trials such as Mockingbird, committing to further rollouts and investing £25 million for foster carer retention and recruitment.

  • Munira Wilson Lib Dem Twickenham

    Question

    Critiques the statement's inadequate funding compared to recommendations, focusing on kinship care support.

    Minister reply

    Commits to reporting back within a year on pathways explored for kinship carers and emphasises that this is part of a larger reform programme.

  • David Johnston Con Cannock Chase

    Question

    Welcomes the increase in bursaries for care leavers and apprenticeship support, asking about more universities taking on these individuals.

    Minister reply

    Agrees with the importance of supporting care leavers, increasing bursaries to £3,000 and highlights initiatives like the care leavers board.

  • Kerry McCarthy Lab Bristol East

    Question

    Highlights Bristol's initiative for specialised care homes but questions whether this will keep pace with rising numbers of children in care.

    Minister reply

    Commits to £259 million funding for building more children’s care homes and encourages local authorities to work cooperatively on specialised provision.

  • Damien Moore Con Sutton Coldfield

    Question

    Questions if reforms will address the lack of political leadership causing failures in social care.

    Minister reply

    Committed to working with poorly performing councils through a regions group, noting progress since 2017 in reducing inadequate services.

  • Andrew Western Lab Stretford and Urmston

    Question

    Questions the increased pressure on social workers due to focus on early intervention, asking about additional training for robust decision-making.

    Minister reply

    Commits to a multi-agency approach with a focus on data sharing and an early career framework to support social workers in difficult decisions.

  • James Morris Lab

    Question

    Welcomed the Secretary of State's statement, emphasising the importance of prevention and early intervention. He highlighted the need for joint working between children’s social services and local health services, particularly on mental health provision.

    Minister reply

    Agreed that family hubs are essential for offering comprehensive support from midwifery to mental health services, up to age 19 or 25 for those with special educational needs. Distinguished family hubs from Sure Start by highlighting their broader service range and universal eligibility.

  • Holly Lynch Lab

    Question

    Critiqued the £200 million funding as insufficient compared to the £2.6 billion recommendation from the MacAlister review, stressing the need for more urgent implementation of a kinship care strategy and direct central Government funding.

    Minister reply

    Confirmed spending £10.8 billion on children's social care annually and noted Josh MacAlister’s endorsement while emphasising that the current announcement lays a two-year pathfinder foundation, with plans to bring forward recommendations swiftly.

  • David Simmonds Con Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner

    Question

    Welcomed the Government's intention to focus on evidence-based interventions as recommended by What Works centres, highlighting the importance of effective spending based on evidence.

    Minister reply

    Acknowledged previous shortcomings in Sure Start but highlighted the importance of the What Works programme for directing funding towards evidence-backed solutions.

  • Andrew Gwynne Ind Gorton and Denton

    Question

    As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on kinship care, asked about steps to ensure fair and consistent assessment practices for kinship carers across local authorities, and requested collaboration in developing proposals.

    Minister reply

    Acknowledged the importance of his role and committed to writing to councils today to review their arrangements. Also stated willingness to collaborate with him and other stakeholders on this issue.

  • Lee Anderson Reform Ashfield

    Question

    Sought help for kinship carers like Joanne Strickland and Maxine Wainwright who face barriers in accessing benefits, urging the strategy to address bureaucratic challenges.

    Minister reply

    Committed to exploring a financial allowance for kinship carers during the next Parliament and making it easier for them through collaboration with local authorities.

  • Jim Shannon DUP Strangford

    Question

    Emphasised the importance of funding to keep families together, noting reductions in kinship care funding and the impact of the pandemic.

    Minister reply

    Stressed focus on early intervention through supporting families programme and family hubs for healthier outcomes.

  • Bob Blackman Con Harrow East

    Question

    Highlighted challenges faced by social workers in dealing with chaotic households, stressing the need for better data sharing between agencies.

    Minister reply

    Agreed on the importance of multidisciplinary teams and shared data to improve services for vulnerable children.

Shadow Comment

Helen Hayes

The Labour MP Helen Hayes questioned the adequacy of the announced plans as a 'radical reset' required by the independent review, highlighting the erosion of children's services over years. She commended social workers but criticised the lack of transformative vision for vulnerable children and care-experienced individuals in the new strategy. While welcoming some funding and measures, she raised concerns about profiteering in private providers, workforce crises, and structural issues failing care-experienced people. Hayes pressed the Minister on how today’s announcements would impact inadequate services departments, kinship carers struggling with cost of living, and unregulated settings for 16-17-year-olds. She also questioned future meetings with other Departments to address disadvantage and discrimination faced by care-experienced individuals.

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