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Question
Does the Secretary of State agree with the report that profit caps may not work due to easy reallocation by providers? What is her target level for maximum profit?
Minister reply
The minister acknowledged the concerns raised about the effectiveness of profit caps but did not provide a specific answer on whether she agrees with the report or specify a target profit level.
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Question
What additional measures will be taken to increase capacity and supply of places for looked-after children?
Minister reply
The minister did not provide specific details on additional measures beyond the current commitments, highlighting the importance of addressing capacity issues alongside other reforms.
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Question
What assessment has been made about scrapping payment by results and its impact?
Minister reply
The minister did not provide a specific assessment but highlighted the importance of early intervention in reducing long-term costs.
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Question
What actions are being taken on deprivation of liberty orders?
Minister reply
The minister did not provide specific details but acknowledged the importance of addressing issues related to deprivation of liberty orders.
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Question
When can we expect legislation for a unique child identifier?
Minister reply
The minister did not provide a specific timeline but confirmed the commitment to introduce legislation as part of their manifesto pledge.
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Question
Questions were raised regarding the need for more placements, funding requirements, and the effectiveness of measures such as profit caps. Additionally, concerns about early intervention programmes and the role of Ofsted in regulating care homes were discussed.
Minister reply
The Secretary responded by confirming plans to expand capacity with £90 million allocation and to support kinship and foster care through improved early intervention strategies. She also committed to providing Ofsted with enhanced powers to address unregistered provisions, aiming for swift legislative action.
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Question
The question pertained to the Government’s child poverty strategy and how it would ensure stability and safety for children entering care systems.
Minister reply
Acknowledging the importance of tackling child poverty, the Secretary committed to discussing issues with the Select Committee and highlighted the work of the Child Poverty Taskforce as crucial.
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Question
Concerns were raised about profiteering from private equity firms, support for local authorities in running children’s homes, and a call for universal allowances for kinship carers.
Minister reply
The Secretary pledged to work with councils on providing services directly or through partnerships. She committed to moving beyond pilots to provide universal allowances for kinship carers and to legislate for paid leave under the Employment Rights Bill.
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Question
I welcome this statement, which those of us with care experience and who have worked in this area want to see. The work by Josh MacAlister was commissioned by the previous Government but left on a shelf. Will she reassure everyone working in this area that every penny will go towards helping young people thrive rather than lining profiteers' pockets?
Minister reply
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend's personal experience and his work demonstrating what can be achieved despite barriers. He is right about the excellent work of Josh MacAlister. We are determined to ensure that vulnerable children receive the support they deserve.
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Question
I regret the Secretary of State’s tone in response to the shadow Secretary of State, who noted a capacity crisis. Is she confident that she has the resources to support local authorities and others in tackling this challenge?
Minister reply
The Conservative Members' contributions are shocking and shameful when I hear directly from children who have been failed by the system. We will change it.
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Question
Years of inaction by previous Conservative Governments led to vulnerable children feeling forgotten and councils being financially crippled. How will she ensure that reforms truly prioritise children’s wellbeing and tackle profiteering?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend brings expertise from her work in education, where school staff also have a role in keeping children safe. The steps we are setting out today will make a big change to the life chances and wellbeing of many children.
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Question
Children’s services have been a Cinderella department for far too long, but the Secretary of State is shining a light on them. How will she drive the agenda to ensure that our communities are kinship and foster care-friendly?
Minister reply
We agree there is more to do to support kinship carers and foster families. We have measures in place from the Budget, including addressing barriers like differences between local authorities and access to mental health support.
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Question
The Government’s prioritisation of kinship care is vital to keep kids with their families. However, not all children can live with their families. What will the Government do to support those care leavers?
Minister reply
We are rolling out the Staying Close programme nationally and setting out plans around corporate parenting to ensure that all care-experienced young people get the support they deserve.
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Question
Bath’s budget for children’s services has increased from £28 million five years ago to £40 million this year. Transport costs are spiralling out of control, and councils need capital investment to rebuild in-house services. Will the Minister commit to that?
Minister reply
I agree that costs are spiralling out of control. We will support councils in investing in services closer to home.
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Question
Local authorities have a legal duty to house unintentionally homeless people, including care leavers. Over 150,000 children are in temporary accommodation in England. Without urgent action on the housing crisis, we will not see improvements for care-leaving children.
Minister reply
I agree with my hon. Friend that without urgent action on the housing crisis, improvements will not be seen. The Government is determined to drive forward change.
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Question
The Secretary of State referenced the report by Josh MacAlister, which stated that we need a revolution in family help and a £2.6 billion temporary injection of financial support to make the shift to prevention. Can she commit to this?
Minister reply
We recognise the need to rebalance the system away from crisis intervention and to break the cycle of spending ever more pots of money on failure within our system.
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Question
I grew up in a kinship care setting with my grandparents. I welcome the content of the Command Paper, but for those who have to enter the care system, it cannot be a one-way process; ageing out cannot be the only exit. Will she set out more on what the paper will do to help reunification?
Minister reply
I thank my hon. Friend for speaking about his experiences and will consider routes back into family care for those children where that is possible.
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Question
In Sutton, we started to in-house some children’s care home provision in 2020. What assessment has the Department made of the potential scale of local authorities taking on services directly if given the right support?
Minister reply
Councils will have the backing of the Government to take such action and ensure that they can manage placements more effectively, bringing down costs for taxpayers.
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Question
Welcoming the emphasis on early intervention, Creasy asks about corporate parenting and the role of MPs in this context.
Minister reply
Phillipson acknowledges the long-standing challenges and states that the Command Paper outlines steps to further address corporate parenting. She expresses willingness to work with Creasy on shaping these plans.
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Question
Welcoming the Secretary of State’s commitment, Bennett asks for assurances that valuable work by organisations like Pause will be rolled out more widely.
Minister reply
Phillipson offers to arrange a meeting with the Under-Secretary of State and reiterates the importance of ongoing support for families following child removals.
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Question
Rodda requests clarity on the need for greater co-production with charities and other agencies.
Minister reply
Phillipson confirms that they will work closely with family rights organisations, charities, and the social work workforce to design services.
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Question
Miller raises concerns about unregistered children’s homes in Oxfordshire and seeks support for local authorities to open registered homes.
Minister reply
Phillipson agrees with Miller's concern and commits to working closely with the Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister on allocating capital investment.
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Question
Lewell-Bentley calls for overturning legislation that permits placing children in unregulated accommodation.
Minister reply
Phillipson acknowledges the harmful impact of such placements and commits to giving Ofsted further powers to tackle illegal providers.
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Question
Dyke inquires about achieving a joined-up approach for local authorities to provide better care.
Minister reply
Phillipson confirms work with the Deputy Prime Minister on rebalancing the children’s social care system towards early intervention.
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Question
Ferguson raises concerns about support for care leavers, highlighting 50% of those leaving care not being in education, employment or training.
Minister reply
Phillipson acknowledges the issue and commits to actions across multiple Departments through the care leavers inter-ministerial board.
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Question
Foord inquires about considering additional costs borne by rural local authorities when simplifying and consolidating money available.
Minister reply
Phillipson confirms they will consider all factors, including areas of good practice, to support children and families.
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Question
Perkins asks if councils having their own provision would prevent profiteering by private providers.
Minister reply
Phillipson agrees that empowering councils through their own provision can help curb such issues and supports capacity improvements.
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Question
I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement. This is incredibly good news so I thank her very much—I think we all welcome it across this great United Kingdom of Great Britian and Northern Ireland. The Barnardo’s charity in Northern Ireland has indicated for a long time that it has been concerned about this issue, so it too welcomes the statement today. We in Northern Ireland have the highest rate of kinship care, along with Scotland, but a streamlined process with a decent level of funding would enable greater buy-in from those who have lots of love but not enough money. Any increase would also need additional funding for the devolved regions. Is the Secretary of State able to confirm that?
Minister reply
I can tell the hon. Gentleman that I am visiting Northern Ireland soon, when I look forward to discussing both that area and wider issues relating to education with counterparts in Northern Ireland.
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Question
I welcome my right hon. Friend’s comments. The more I hear about this area, the more I think that this Government have inherited a wild west from the previous Government, so shocking is the situation in children’s social care. Will she agree to meet me to talk about a particular issue with a foster carer in my constituency that exemplifies the scale of the problem we face?
Minister reply
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for drawing the House’s attention to this area. I would be more than happy to meet him. He is right that the situation we have inherited is one where too many children are being let down and where the quality of provision for very vulnerable children is just not good enough. I look forward to working with him to make that change happen.
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Question
With more than 300 children in Hartlepool in social care, the council is being slowly bankrupted. The top four private providers on average are charging £12,000 per child per week. That is £624,000 a year per child. Does my right hon. Friend agree that only by capping that outrageous profiteering can we protect children, but also get value for money for local council tax payers?
Minister reply
Private providers are making, in some cases, between 20% and 30% profit. That is way beyond what we would expect in any other area. Crucially, when we think about where they are making that profit, it is off the back of the trauma, abuse and sometimes very difficult early childhood experiences of some of the most vulnerable children in our country. My hon. Friend is right that the issue he identifies in Hartlepool is sadly felt right across the country. He may wish to know that there are now more than 1,500 children in placements that each cost half a million pounds every single year. We have got to change that.
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Question
Analysis by the Local Government Association reveals that the top 15 private children’s social care providers are making an average profit of 23%. It is frankly unacceptable that private firms are profiting at all from vulnerable children, let alone when the care they provide is so often poor and is funded by public money, pushing councils to the brink. I commend the Government’s plans to tackle this urgent issue. Will my right hon. Friend also commit to properly fund not-for-profit and public sector provision to improve children’s social care and to end this obscene profiteering for good?
Minister reply
It is vital that we drive up standards and quality in children’s social care placements, and we want to make sure that we are providing support for councils, charities and others to do precisely that. The highest possible standards and quality of care are essential for children and young people who have been through some very traumatic experiences and deserve our full support. I agree that we must take action on excessive profiteering. It has been left to drift for far too long, and this Government will act.
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Question
I warmly welcome this statement, like all colleagues on the Government Benches and hopefully like colleagues across the whole House. I particularly welcome the comments on care leavers; it is important that we do not forget about them. When I became council leader of St Helens in 2019, services for care leavers were rated inadequate by Ofsted. I am proud to say that they are now outstanding. The credit for that goes to Councillor Nova Charlton and the whole children’s services team. The Secretary of State is more than welcome to visit St Helens to hear about the good work they do and how they do it. Will she tell me a bit more about what steps she is taking with colleagues to make sure that local government has the funding it needs to run these services? It has to be a whole council effort—if one part fails, it all falls down.
Minister reply
I commend my hon. Friend and his council on the work they have undertaken to deliver better outcomes for care-experienced young people. It is crucial, and I am sure there is much we can learn from that work. The Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) will be happy to have a conversation with him to discuss that further. We will be setting out further steps to make clear the funding arrangements, but it is essential that we put more money into children’s social care. We are doing that, and we will set out more in due course through the local government finance settlement.
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Question
I welcome the reforming zeal of the Secretary of State in this area; her work has been outstanding. As somebody who led a council with a double outstanding accreditation for the past eight years—all praise goes to council staff for that—may I ask that we learn from the best within the sector and ensure that local government can also trigger a review where it sees profiteering? In one case in Telford, a bill for one placement of £409,000 was taken almost overnight. May I also give a word of caution and be assured that this grant will not be like the public health grant, which was consolidated into the local government fund and cut and eroded over a number of years?
Minister reply
I join my hon. Friend in praising the work of council staff and the many councils across our country taking action in this area. I agree that we can learn a lot from the best examples of support for care-experienced young people and the overall approach taken around children’s social care. I look forward to working with him in that area and note the point he raises. When it comes to ensuring that local councils have a role in the financial oversight of the system, we will of course take his views into account. The regime we will set out will allow us to provide much clearer and greater scrutiny those providers that are, frankly, profiting shamefully from some of the most vulnerable children in our country.
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Question
I am pleased to hear the statement on care leavers. Children who leave care have previously been let down by a system that pretty much stops support once they leave care. To ensure that care-experienced young people can make the most of their future, will the Secretary of State outline the Government’s plans to support care leavers in Tamworth and around the country so that they can gain the skills and experience they need to thrive?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is right to identify the urgent need to do more to support care leavers at the point when they move through the system and throughout their lives. That is why I am working with the Deputy Prime Minister and other Government colleagues so that we all pull together and do much more to deliver better life chances for care leavers. We will roll out the Staying Close programme nationally to ensure that all young people leaving care have the support they need. We are also setting out corporate parenting proposals to ensure that all of us pull together to listen to the views and experiences of young people. I am sure that, like me, she has heard directly from care leavers about how badly they feel failed by a system that has not properly reflected their needs and experiences, and it is vital that we put the needs of care-experienced young people front and centre in our discussions.
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Question
I welcome the statement and the robust steps the Government are taking for our children and young people. I was disappointed to read a report by Ofsted last week into the special educational needs and disabilities provision in Derbyshire, which found there to be “systemic failings” and that the provision was inadequate. Our children and young people deserve so much better. Has the Secretary of State made an assessment of how the previous Government’s failure to deal with SEND has fuelled problems in children’s social care? Does she agree that more integration is needed between education, healthcare, local authorities and providers, including through integrated care boards and partnerships, to deliver long-lasting and sustained outcomes for our young people?
Minister reply
I agree with my hon. Friend: that joint working is important, and it provides much clearer support for families who often do not want to have to repeat their experiences time and again to different sets of professionals and who want better and more targeted support. I have seen great examples, including in Lewisham earlier this week, where the pathfinder programme ensures that all children get the support they need through more timely intervention and through working closely with families. I know that Derby city council has done some excellent work in that area. There is an overlap between children’s social care and SEND, and they have similar challenges. We want to ensure that we share practice between those two areas where possible.
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Question
Children in care are some of the most vulnerable in our society, and many people in Sandwell are worried about children in small care homes, which often seem to lack oversight and regulation. I welcome the measures that the Government set out today. Will the Secretary of State ensure that Ofsted has the powers it needs to inspect children’s social care and ensure that all homes are suitable and safe places for children to be?
Minister reply
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for sharing her and her constituents’ concerns with the House. We will act to ensure that Ofsted has the powers it needs to tackle unregistered, unsafe and unsuitable placements and accommodation. Our most vulnerable children deserve the best possible support, and right now we are sadly far away from that.
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Question
The outcomes for children and families involved in the children’s social care system are some of the worst in our country. That is truly a huge social justice issue, so I welcome the leadership shown by the Secretary of State and her team so soon in the new Government’s time in office. So many of the recommendations came from the contributions of those with lived experience, whether on regional care co-operatives, expanding corporate parenting, the importance of a unique child identifier and the changes to Ofsted that have been announced. Does the Secretary of State agree that the contribution made to the review that I led by thousands of people with lived experience, who are often so unheard and unseen in society, is validated by today’s announcement?
Minister reply
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his tremendous work in this area. I am delighted that we have been able to act in many of the areas that he identified as part of his review. He is right to draw our attention to the thousands of people, including those with lived experience, who contributed to his vital work. It is testament to his work and their contributions that the Government are able to take forward work in so many areas that will make a significant difference to the lives and experiences of vulnerable children across our country, from today and over many years to come.
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Question
I thank the Secretary of State for her statement, and the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby), for her recent visit to my constituency. In its exemplary work, Leeds city council is currently focusing on small group homes to bring children back to Leeds from private provision outside the city, which will give much better outcomes and save significant costs, and on early help and intervention. The Minister saw all that work when she was in Leeds. Will the Secretary of State, whose work on regional care co-operatives I absolutely welcome, clarify further what support will be available for local authorities to consider alternative models of care over and above those co-operatives?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend’s local authority has done brilliant work in this area. We are keen to build on the best examples that already exist around the country. I know that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary was impressed with everything that she saw as part of that visit. We are determined to ensure that we back councils and their ability to work regionally to deliver better placements closer to home, and to bring children back into their local area wherever possible. My hon. Friend will know, as I do, that children thrive when they are close to family and support networks. That allows for much stronger and better life chances as they move into adulthood. I look forward to working with him to ensure that councils have the powers to do more. We will set out more as soon as parliamentary time allows.
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Question
It is so refreshing to see a Labour Secretary of State take action on profiteering in our local authorities. I have been calling for such action, because in my constituency the average cost of an independent residential placement has increased by 65% in the last five years. Despite that, our Labour-led council continues to fight to give decent and good-quality placements to all our looked-after children. Does the Secretary of State agree that tackling the practice of excess profiteering, which was largely ignored by the previous Government, is exactly what we were elected to do to get value for taxpayers’ money and ensure that these vital services, which look after our vulnerable children, deliver the best possible outcomes for children whom we are determined will succeed?
Minister reply
I am grateful for all my hon. Friend’s work in this area. She is right that councils were left at the mercy of private providers, often paying extortionate costs for poor-quality provision that did not deliver safety, dignity and better life chances for our children. We are determined to turn that around, and I look forward to working with her to ensure that children across our country, including those going through the children’s social care system, have their voices heard. Their struggles and challenges have too long been ignored. Under this Government, action will follow.
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Question
In my time as a councillor and corporate parent, nothing was more distressing than the complex safeguarding issues that we had to deal with, and nothing more enraging that seeing people profit from them. That is why Calderdale council did good work to bring children’s homes in house. I hope that the statement means an end to that profiteering.
Minister reply
We are calling time on the excess profiteering of big private providers, which are seeing profits of 20% to 30%. If they fail to act and bring down costs, we will legislate to cap their costs. This cannot continue; it has been left to drift for far too long, and local authorities such as my hon. Friend’s have been up against it, often facing an impossible task but doing great work where they can. We will work with councils, including on a regional basis, to provide accommodation for children and young people that is closer to home and of a higher quality, with better standards, and we will tackle unregistered and illegal provision.
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Question
It is brilliant to see a Secretary of State take this issue so seriously and get a grip on it so early on in her time in government. Figures published last week show that the number of children placed far from home increased by 51% over the last decade between 2014 and 2024. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is about not only capacity, quality and cost, but the geography of the placements, to ensure that when children are placed away from their families, they can stay in touch?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is right. There are big differences based on geography. I find it quite astounding that 25% of registered places are in the north-west of England. That is a staggering number, and sadly it means that far too many children are moving far from home, away from family networks and moving school or education provision. We need to make sure that that changes and that our most vulnerable children, who have often been through incredibly traumatic early childhood experiences and exposed to things that no child should ever see or witness, get the best possible support and standards. I look forward to working with my hon. Friend to drive up standards and make sure that every child in his constituency who needs support through children’s social care has a much better experience and better adult life chances.