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Children’s Social Care
30 October 2025
Lead MP
Helen Hayes
Dulwich and West Norwood
Lab
Responding Minister
Josh MacAlister
Tags
EducationTaxationSafeguarding & DBS
Word Count: 12040
Other Contributors: 12
At a Glance
Helen Hayes raised concerns about children’s social care in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.
Key Requests to Government:
The report recommended that the Department publish a national sufficiency strategy for reducing out-of-area placements and introduce a fostering strategy including a national register of foster carers, but these recommendations have not been fully committed to by the government.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Lead Contributor
The inquiry found that the children’s social care system is under intense pressure due to funding erosion combined with increasing need. The number of looked-after children has risen by over 20% in the past decade, standing at 83,630 in 70 per 10,000 children in the population in 2024. There is a severe shortage of foster care placements and local authorities are increasingly reliant on private residential providers.
Anna Sabine
LD
Frome and East Somerset
Emphasised the importance of support for kinship carers, highlighting issues such as lack of foster care places in rural areas like Frome, leading to children being placed far from home. Called for financial and emotional support for these carers. Asked the Minister to consider children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder who may require higher levels of financial support for diagnoses.
Chris Law
SNP
Dundee Central
Argued for designating care experience as a protected characteristic to ensure better support for care-experienced young people.
Darren Paffey
Lab
Southampton Itchen
The MP highlighted his personal connection to children's social care due to his background in foster care and advocacy work, supporting the need for better support systems for care leavers. Contributed based on lived and professional experience, recognised for his leadership in the local authority by Helen Hayes.
Euan Stainbank
Lab
Falkirk
The MP emphasised the importance of designating care experience as a protected characteristic and urged the Department for Education to consider legislating if local councils' actions prove beneficial. Shared his local authority’s experience with making care experience a protected characteristic, contributing to the debate on Thursday afternoon despite challenging timing.
Helen Hayes
Lab
Stretford and Urmston
Raises concerns about the inability of the social housing system to protect family tenancy rights when moving due to extra-familial harms, proposing Georgia's law for cross-departmental engagement. Thanked Members for their contributions and highlighted the importance of making care experience a protected characteristic, referencing work in Falkirk and Terry Galloway's campaigning efforts.
Helen Whately
Con
Fareham
Stressed the importance of early intervention and preventive services in reducing children entering care.
Expresses gratitude for the suggestion of Georgia’s law and offers willingness to take up aspects with other Ministers in different Departments. Emphasised the importance of a flexible social care system that can adapt to different family needs and highlighted the escalation of costs when the system fails.
Josh Newbury
Con
Cannock Chase
Spoke powerfully based on his personal experiences, contributing to the debate.
Nick Timothy
Con
West Suffolk
Welcomed the Minister to his new role and congratulated Helen Hayes on her Select Committee report. Highlighted that 45% of looked-after children were placed outside their local authority area last year, underlining the importance of kinship care.
The Member for Dulwich and West Norwood
Helen Hayes
Discussed the consequences of not getting children’s social care right, including poor outcomes for care leavers.
The Member for Falkirk
Euan Stainbank
Congratulated young people and organisations championing additional rights for care-experienced young people.
Mentioned the work of Cangle Foyer in Haverhill and supported the Committee’s recommendations.
Government Response
Josh MacAlister
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education
Government Response
Acknowledged the Select Committee’s inquiry, highlighted a system under pressure requiring urgent reform, and committed to delivering a radical reset in children's social care. The Government is launching a £2 billion investment programme over this spending review period, including the creation of multidisciplinary family help teams to address child protection issues. Major changes are being made in foster care, with regional care co-operatives and fostering hubs at the heart. The Minister also discusses cross-departmental work on extra-familial harms and engagement with housing departments. Discussed plans for national Staying Close support, guaranteed maximum maintenance support for care leavers going to university without a means test, Ofsted inspections focusing on care leavers' experiences, and options for wider adoption support. Mentioned a pilot for kinship allowances benefiting up to 5,000 children with payments equivalent to foster rates. Addressed concerns about profiteering in the children's social care system by strengthening Ofsted powers and making more data publicly available.
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About Westminster Hall Debates
Westminster Hall debates are a chance for MPs to raise important issues affecting their constituents and get a response from a government minister. Unlike Prime Minister's Questions, these debates are more in-depth and collaborative. The MP who secured the debate speaks first, other MPs can contribute, and a minister responds with the government's position.