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1679726

	registered interest
	date	05/01/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Social Services: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact of the privatisation of children's social care on the quality of service provision.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
	tabling member printed	Nadia Whittome
	uin	8261
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2024 answer text <p>Children's homes provide care for some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the country. There are many different types of providers who operate in this sector, playing a vital role in providing homes for children in care. Ofsted has a crucial role to play in upholding children’s social care standards and making sure children are safe in care. They provide independent evaluations on the quality of support, safeguarding, and leadership in children’s social care to ensure all children in need receive the services they need. The proportion of children’s homes of all types judged outstanding or good was 79% as of 31 March 2023 (10% outstanding, 69% good), an increase from 2022, when the proportion was 77%.</p><p>Local authorities have a statutory duty set out in Section 22(3) of the Children’s Act 1989 to make sure that there is sufficient provision in their area to meet the needs of children in their care. Local authorities are sometimes paying too much for placements, and the department’s view is it is not right that council taxpayers are footing the bill. The department recognises the concerns particularly around large providers with complex, and sometimes opaque, ownership structures. There is an awareness that a provider exiting the market could have a significant impact on the care of children and young people living in their provision, and it is not a desirable position to be waiting for this to happen. The department is developing a financial oversight regime to bring greater transparency, for example on ownership, debt structures and profit making, and prevent sudden market exit across both independent fostering agencies and residential children’s homes.</p><p>​Support is being provided to local authorities to meet their statutory duties through £259 million capital funding over this Parliament to maintain capacity and expand provision in both secure and open children’s homes. To support local authorities with forecasting of demand for and supply of children’s social care placements in their area, the department is also seeking to deliver national support with forecasting, procurement and market shaping to local authorities. Lastly, the department has committed to developing a core overarching set of Standards of Care for fostering, children’s homes and supported accommodation. This will help simplify the regulatory landscape, raise quality, and ensure there are consistent safeguards across different types of settings.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 15/01/2024 15:40:22 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4869 label Biography information for Nadia Whittome

1677035

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Social Services: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press release by Pause entitled Pause responds to Government’s plans for children’s social care, published on 11 May 2023, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of their recommendation on annual data collection on parents who have experienced the removal of more than one child from their care.
	tabling member constituency	North Herefordshire
	tabling member printed	Sir Bill Wiggin
	uin	6161
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2023 answer text <p>The department appreciates the need to improve the data available about children’s social care, including by making it more relevant to the experience of children, young people and families. That is why the department has published a data and digital strategy for children’s social care. This strategic approach will provide the opportunity to map and understand the data needs of the children’s social care sector as a whole and seek to address this over time. This will enable a better understanding of the system and support the planning and delivery of services. A link to the strategy can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-social-care-data-and-digital-strategy" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-social-care-data-and-digital-strategy</a>.</p><p>Existing statutory data is captured about the child and does not capture the complex nature of families such as, for example, where siblings to not live in the same family home. Addressing data gaps in children’s social care will be a long-term endeavour due to the need to agree data definitions and standards, as well as redesign local authority and departmental systems before rolling out nationally.</p><p> </p><p><strong><br> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 19/12/2023 16:04:04 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	1428 label Biography information for Sir Bill Wiggin

1674389

	registered interest
	date	30/11/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Social Services: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress she has made on implementing the children's social care national framework and dashboard.
	tabling member constituency	Eddisbury
	tabling member printed	Edward Timpson
	uin	4679
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/12/2023 answer text <p>The Children’s Social Care National Framework (National Framework), along with proposed Children’s Social Care Dashboard (Dashboard) indicators, were published for consultation at the same time as the government’s strategy for children’s social care, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, in February 2023. The National Framework describes the outcomes that children’s social care should achieve when supporting children, young people and families. The Dashboard will serve as a learning tool for local and central government. It will have a national set of indicators, to help understand progress towards the children’s social care outcomes, and to support learning and improvement at a local, regional, and national level.</p><p>The consultation took place over 14 weeks and gathered a range of views from the online consultation and over 30 engagement events that involved around 500 people from local authorities, education, health, and police, as well as members of the public. The government response to the consultation was published in September 2023 and committed to iterating the National Framework, giving more prominence to the important role of practice supervisors, as well as adding a new chapter on how multi-agency working enables good outcomes.</p><p>The National Framework will be issued as statutory guidance by the end of the year. Local authorities will have a one-year implementation period, and government has committed to provide advice to local authorities on embedding the National Framework. A phased roll-out of the Dashboard will begin in 2024 so that the department can test, evaluate and iterate the Dashboard.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 06/12/2023 17:32:24 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson

1674394

	registered interest
	date	30/11/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Social Services: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the CMA's report entitled Children’s social care market study final report, published on 10 March 2022, whether the children’s social care dashboard will identify (a) placement capacity constraints in specific geographical areas and (b) the frequency with which placements do not meet children's needs due to such constraints.
	tabling member constituency	Eddisbury
	tabling member printed	Edward Timpson
	uin	4680
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2023 answer text <p>The department is continuing to develop the indicators chosen to measure the outcomes and enablers identified in the National Framework.</p><p>The Children’s Social Care National Framework and Dashboard consultation response included a long list of indicators that are continuing to be tested, to measure feasibility and reliability for use, including placement measures.</p><p>The response is available at: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1185764/Children_s_social_care_national_framework_and_dashboard_consultation_response.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1185764/Children_s_social_care_national_framework_and_dashboard_consultation_response.pdf</a>.</p><p>The department anticipates publishing an update on the target scope for the first version of the dashboard in the near future.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 08/12/2023 10:51:59 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson

1671248

	registered interest
	date	20/11/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Social Services: Children
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase investment in early intervention and prevention as part of children’s social care reform.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Manchester
	uin	HL417
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/12/2023 answer text <p>The government has invested billions in local services. This year alone, the total social care grant for local government is over £2 billion. In the ‘Stable Homes Built on Love’ Strategy, the department outlined its plans to build on the strengths of current early help and Child in Need services, through the creation of Family Help.</p><p>The department is investing £200 million in Children’s Social Care reforms, including £45 million for the Families First for Children Pathfinder programme, which will test how multi-disciplinary family help teams can improve the support that children and families receive. The pathfinder will inform the next stage of the department’s reform programme which will look to deliver transformation more widely.</p><p>The department also announced over £1 billion of funding for programmes to improve early help services, including delivering Family Hubs.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 04/12/2023 16:15:01 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
	tabling member	4878 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Manchester

1671293

	registered interest
	date	20/11/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Social Services: Children
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Josh MacAlister The independent review of children’s social care, published on 23 May 2022; and what progress they have made in improving council-run homes in the children’s social care system given the findings of that report.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Manchester
	uin	HL418
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/12/2023 answer text <p>In February 2023 the department published its consultation and implementation strategy, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. This sets out the department’s plans for a system-wide transformation of children’s social care, and details how the department will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe, and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships, and opportunities for a good life.</p><p>To support local authorities to meet their statutory duty to ensure there is sufficient provision for children in their care, the department has announced £259 million capital funding to maintain capacity and expand provision in both secure and open children’s homes that provide high-quality, safe homes for some of the most vulnerable children and young people across England. The department has allocated a portion of the £259 million capital funding to open children’s homes enabling a total of 69 projects to be delivered, which will create an additional 350 beds across this sector.</p><p>The department has also committed to developing a core overarching set of Standards of Care for fostering, children’s homes, and supported accommodation. This will help simplify the regulatory landscape, raise quality, and ensure there are consistent safeguards across different types of settings.</p><p>The department will develop a programme to support improvements in the quality of leadership and management in children’s homes, including exploring proposals for a leadership programme to attract and train new talent.</p><p>In addition, the department is investing £10 million to develop Regional Care Co-operatives (RCCs) to plan, commission and deliver children’s social care placements. Through operating on a larger scale and developing specialist capabilities, the RCCs will be able to develop a wider range of places to meet children’s needs better.</p><p>The department is also making good progress on addressing challenges relating to the retention and recruitment of social workers, which is key to supporting the delivery of the wider children’s social care reforms. This includes introducing an Early Career Framework to better support newly qualified social workers to meet the challenges of child and family social work, increasing the number of social worker apprenticeships, and supporting local authorities with their retention and workload challenges. Alongside ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the department also published a consultation on a set of rules for local authority engagement of agency child and family social workers. The response to this consultation was published on 25 October 2023 and sets out a set of national rules intended to increase workforce quality and sustainability. The department will consult on statutory guidance on the technical detail in Spring 2024. These reforms are in addition to the department’s £50 million annual investment in recruiting, training and developing the workforce.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 04/12/2023 16:40:34 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
	tabling member	4878 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Manchester

1662747

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Social Services: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the The National review into the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson, published 26 May 2022 and Independent review of children's social care: final report, published 23 May 2022, what progress her Department has made on implementing the recommendations of those reviews; and what discussions she has had with the devolved administrations on coordinating action in that area.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	200601
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2023 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 26/10/2023 11:28:43 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1663497

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Social Services: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for children’s services.
	tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
	tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
	uin	201351
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>The government always considers all local government spending when finalising budgets at finance settlements, to ensure councils can continue to deliver vital services, including children’s care. The government works closely with the sector to understand their needs and funding requirements.</p><p> </p><p>In 2021/22, local authority gross expenditure on children and young people's services was £11.9 billion<strong>. </strong>For 2023/24, the Local Government Finance Settlement has made available up to £59.7 billion for all local government services in England, including spending on children's services. This is an increase in Core Spending Power of 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.</p><p> </p><p>Within the Stable Homes, Built on Love reform strategy, the government announced an additional £200 million made available for care system transformation until 2024/25. Longer-term funding decisions to scale up these reforms will be made in subsequent spending review periods.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 23/10/2023 17:14:55 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1660463

	registered interest
	date	13/09/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Social Services: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the support given by local authority social services departments to children who have a parent in prison.
	tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
	tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
	uin	199343
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/09/2023 answer text <p>‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (2018) sets out local areas’ responsibilities to provide support and services. It highlights dependent children of imprisoned parents as a cohort which practitioners should be particularly aware of and provide appropriate needs-based advice and support where needed. Ofsted is responsible for assessing the performance of children’s social care services delivered by local authorities.</p><p>Our ambition is for every family to receive the right support, at the right time. In ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the department outlined the strategy for whole system reform, including family help, which will provide effective and intensive support to any family facing significant challenges.</p><p>Prison Mother and Baby Units Admission Boards must be in receipt of a Children’s Services assessment in order to facilitate a Board. Every assessment by a social worker should reflect children’s needs within their family and community context, which would include taking account of a parent being in prison. These children’s circumstances vary considerably and therefore local agencies are best placed to determine what support is needed whether early help, statutory social care services, or support for other needs such as mental health.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 199341 199342 question first answered 26/09/2023 15:42:46 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1566008

	registered interest
	date	11/01/2023
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	Social Services: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much capital funding has been made available for children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences in (a) Feltham and Heston constituency, (b) Greater London and (c) England and Wales.
	tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
	tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
	uin	121045
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/01/2023 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien question first answered 17/01/2023 17:08:30 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
	tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra