Aims of this programme This work, delivered in partnership by the Society of County Treasurers (SCT), the County Councils Network (CCN), and Newton, aims to provide an evidence base illustrating which features of the multi-agency system should be prioritised across the delivery of the current reforms for one particular cohort of children: those who interact with the care system. Whilst comprising less than 1% of England’s child population, they represent one of the most vulnerable and complex cohorts, and outcomes for them should be prioritised through any changes introduced through reform. The decision to take a child into care is one of last resort and will likely follow a history of multiple, individualised attempts to support the family, across different agencies within the children’s services system. You don’t come into care as a result of one crisis but after several.” Care experienced young person This programme does not start from the premise that entry to care is a system failure – local authorities have a statutory duty to assess, manage and mitigate risk, and this action can be a warranted result of that duty. Rather it asks: what would need to change fundamentally in the complex, multi-agency, children’s social care system to safely and positively prevent more children coming into care, and support more children to return to their family network?
Within this context, previous analysis by CCN and Newton has shown that, in a climate of reductions to overall council budgets, the proportion of children’s services budgets spent on statutory services has increased in recent years, reducing available resource to spend on prevention x . The costs associated with providing homes for children in care also represent an increasing challenge for local authorities. Over the past decade, the number of children in the care of county and CCN unitary member authorities has increased by 29%, from 20,761 to 26,732. This is due to numerous, systemic reasons, including an increase of 1,242 Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) in care since 2021, which this work has not sought to analyse xi . In parallel, county and CCN unitary member authorities’ expenditure on children in care has increased by 240%, from £1.3bn to £3.2bn – larger than the increase associated only with more children being in care xii . Other factors driving cost increases include: • A greater proportion of children being cared for in higher cost residential care, linked to the national shortage of foster carers (although some of this increase is offset by the increase in the proportion of children in lower cost kinship care placements). • Above-inflation increases in the unit cost of care, particularly residential care. • A larger amount of spend being associated with a small number of very high-cost placements for children with particularly complex care needs. Recent work by Newton in partnership with local authorities in the northeast of England found that 30% of spend on homes for children in care was linked to supporting 5% of children in care with particularly complex care needs. The combination of these factors, as well as the wider local government funding context, led to an increase in overspend on budgets for children in care placements of county and CCN unitary member authorities to £550m in FY 2024/25. Extensive work is underway nationally to address increasing unit costs, including through the work of new Regional Care Collaboratives.
This is a result of a system which is deliberately designed to keep families together where possible, given the evidence about the better long-term outcomes for children when cared for by their family. This is illustrated by the fact that a minority of children – 4.4% – are subject to a statutory social care plan at any point in time. A further subset of children within this proportion – 0.7% – are looked after in the care system. Put another way, the current system already successfully supports 99.3% of families to stay together ix . It should of course be acknowledged that, even though the proportion of children and young people in care is small, the care system plays a vital and protective role for these children and young people for whom remaining at home is not safe. Entry to care, when it happens, is typically the result of sustained professional judgment, legal scrutiny, and a considered decision that it is required for a child’s welfare.
Within and connected to the vast system supporting children and families – which incorporates significant parts of England’s public sector – exists the non-statutory and statutory children’s social care system. As defined in the children’s social care national framework, children’s social care exists to ‘support children, young people and families by addressing problems early, intervening decisively when there is likelihood of harm, and to provide care for those who need it so that they grow up to achieve and thrive with safety, stability and love’ viii . Within the wider children’s services ecosystem, the children’s social care system supports a small proportion of families. Of these, a further subset are children in care.
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