The government is aware the costs of delivering children\u2019s social care are rising, which is why the department has already taken action and announced a series of additional measures:<\/p>
<\/p>
<\/p>
<\/p>
This additional funding illustrates our commitment to support councils in continuing to deliver high-quality services to vulnerable children and families.<\/p>
<\/p>
But the department knows that rising costs are unsustainable and that whole system reform is needed. It is more important than ever that the department continues with the plans to improve and stabilise the children\u2019s social care system. The department's ambitious strategy, set out in \u2018Stable Homes, Built on Love\u2019 will bring about fundamental reform, rebalancing local authority spending from costly acute services to effective earlier intervention, thereby improving outcomes for children and families. More information can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/642460653d885d000fdade73/Children_s_social_care_stable_homes_consultation_February_2023.pdf<\/a>.<\/p> <\/p> When \u2018Stable Homes, Built on Love\u2019 was published, the department announced an additional £200 million funding for implementation. However, this is only part of the wider picture of spending on children\u2019s social care reform. In total, across the department's programmes, almost £700 million has been committed to start delivering the reforms.<\/p> <\/p> In \u2018Stable Homes, Built on Love\u2019, the department committed to work with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to update, publish and consult on a new funding distribution formula. Departmental officials are working in partnership towards implementing an updated approach to distributing available funding for children and young people\u2019s services, based on an up-to-date assessment of relative need in local authorities.<\/p> <\/p> Whilst the government is not able to implement funding reform in this spending period, the department remain committed to updating the funding formula for children\u2019s services to better direct resources to where they are most needed, and work will continue across government to that end.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4703", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Barran"}
}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Barran"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-05-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-05-24T13:10:24.437Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-05-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Children: Social Services"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase investment in children\u2019s services and provide updated funding formulae to (1) direct resources according to deprivation-based need, and (2) account for changing levels of deprivation.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4996", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Newcastle"}
}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "The Lord Bishop of Newcastle"}
], "uin" : "HL4782"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1719176", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1719176/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.<\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4703", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Barran"}
}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Barran"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-05-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-05-24T13:48:12.71Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-05-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Children: Social Services"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) update statutory guidance to classify homeless children as needing support from children\u2019s social care services, and (2) disseminate updated information on rights and entitlements.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4996", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Newcastle"}
}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "The Lord Bishop of Newcastle"}
], "uin" : "HL4783"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1659835", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1659835/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " Our analysis for reporting year ending March 2022 for children in social care shows:<\/p> After accounting for a wide range of factors such as rates of special educational need in these cohorts, children who have interacted with the social care system were around 25-50% less likely to achieve grades 5-9 in GCSE English and Maths, compared to pupils who were not in social care.<\/p> The government has put in place a number of measures to support the educational attainment of looked-after children. Every local authority in England must appoint a Virtual School Head, who has a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of all children in their care, wherever they live or are educated. Looked-after children attract Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,530 per child up to age 16, which is managed by the Virtual School Head, working with the child\u2019s education setting to deliver objectives in their individual Personal Education Plans.<\/p> \u2018Stable Homes, Built on Love\u2019 sets out our strategy to reform the children\u2019s social care system, including improving the education, employment, and training outcomes of children in care and care leavers. The department will introduce a gold standard accreditation scheme for further and higher education institutions supporting care leavers, consult on plans to expand the Virtual School Head role to include children in care and care leavers up to age 25, and roll out a further £24 million in Pupil Premium Plus style funding between 2023 and 2025 to bolster educational support available to children in care and care leavers in 16-19 education.<\/p> The Children in Need Review, which concluded in June 2019, identified for the first time that 1.6 million children needed a social worker between 2012 and 2018, and that these children have worse educational outcomes at every stage, with children who need a social worker in their GCSE year being 50% as likely to achieve a strong pass in English and Maths as their peers.<\/p> To address this, in June 2021 the department extended Virtual School Head duties to include all children with a social worker, giving them a strategic leadership role to champion the educational attendance, attainment, and progress of children with a social worker. This means that they have a lead role in levelling up educational outcomes for children with a social worker and narrowing the attainment gap, so every child has the opportunity to reach their potential.<\/p> We recently announced over £1 billion for programmes to improve early help services from birth to adulthood, including delivering on Family Hubs and helping families facing multiple-disadvantage through the Supporting Families programme and Holiday Activities and Food programme. Investing in support for families helps children to have happy, healthy childhoods. It can stop issues escalating and help them to achieve better outcomes. The Supporting Families Programme has supported over half a million families, to make sustained improvements to their lives, and is projected to help a further 300,000.<\/p> In \u2018Stable Homes, Built on Love\u2019, we outlined our plans to build on the strengths of current early help services, through the creation of family help. These reforms are central to ensuring children growing up with loving relationships and stability. The department is creating a service which meets the whole needs of a family and works to their strengths, delivered by multi-disciplinary teams working collaboratively with their local partners. Through the £45 million Families First for Children Pathfinder programme, we will test implementation in up to 12 local areas over two years and help assess requirements to achieve meaningful change system-wide.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4703", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Barran"}
}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Barran"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-09-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "HL10024"}
, {"_value" : "HL10025"}
], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-09-25T13:12:29.537Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2023-09-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Children: Social Services"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, beyond the school gates, to provide support to children who have interacted with the children\u2019s social care system.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4312", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham"}
}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "The Lord Bishop of Durham"}
], "uin" : "HL10026"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1648340", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1648340/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " On 2 February 2023 the department published \u2018Stable Homes, Built on Love\u2019, an implementation strategy and consultation, setting out plans to reform children\u2019s social care. This strategy sets out how we 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> As of 1 April 2023, there are 153 local authorities responsible for ensuring and overseeing the effective delivery of social care services for children. Since the introduction of our Improvement and Intervention programme in 2017, which aimed to reduce the number of local authorities rated Inadequate by Ofsted, the number of Inadequate local authorities has dropped from 20% to 8.5%, and the number of Good and Outstanding local authorities has risen from 36% to 59%. This programme specifically offers support to areas with early signs of failure and intervenes when failure has already taken place.<\/p> Over the next two years, through \u2018Stable Homes, Built on Love\u2019, the department will address urgent issues in children\u2019s social care, and lay the foundations for wider-reaching reform across the whole system.<\/p> <\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4703", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Barran"}
}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Barran"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-07-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-07-11T13:14:03.04Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2023-06-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Children: Social Services"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to improve the quality and accessibility of social care services for children.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4352", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hay of Ballyore"}
}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Hay of Ballyore"}
], "uin" : "HL8828"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1641707", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1641707/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " There needs to be a fundamental shift away from crisis intervention and towards earlier intervention, and the \u2018Stable Homes, Built on Love\u2019 Implementation Strategy and Consultation sets out how the department intend to achieve that. The consultation can be found attached. These are complex reforms, with complicated systemic interactions, and it is critical that we take a test and learn approach and make sure we have models that can be rolled out effectively.<\/p> Alongside the Implementation Strategy, the department has announced we are investing £200 million by 2024/25 to address urgent issues facing children and families, to lay the foundations for whole system reform and set national direction for change. This is on top of the £142 million invested by 2024/25 to take forward reforms to unregulated provision in children\u2019s social care, the £160 million as announced in March 2022 to deliver our Adoption Strategy over the next three years, the £259 million to maintain capacity and expand provision in secure and open residential children\u2019s homes over the Spending Review 21 period, and the £230 million over the same period to support young people leaving care.<\/p> This is all in addition to the £3.85 billion social care grant that the government is providing to local authorities for adults and children\u2019s social care this year.<\/p> After two years, the department will refresh the \u2018Stable Homes, Built on Love\u2019 strategy, and seek to scale up the new approaches we have tested and developed, including bringing forward new legislation where necessary (subject to parliamentary time).\u200b<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4703", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Barran"}
}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Barran"}
, "attachment" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1641707/answer/attachment/1", "fileName" : {"_value" : "HL8240_Children_s_social_care_stable_homes_consultation_February_2023.pdf"}
, "title" : "HL8240_pdf"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-06-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-06-16T13:59:49.26Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2023-06-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Children: Social Services"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the briefing The Cost of Delaying Reform to Children\u2019s Social Care, published in May, which summarised analysis commissioned by the children charities Action for Children, Barnardo\u2019s, the Children\u2019s Society, the NSPCC, and the National Children\u2019s Bureau.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4151", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Willis of Knaresborough"}
}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Willis of Knaresborough"}
], "uin" : "HL8240"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1520177", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1520177/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The department does not collect information from the National Deprivation of Liberty Court on the number or characteristics of children subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Order.<\/p> The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory are collecting data from the national court over a pilot period and publishing monthly to improve our understanding of the cases that are being heard by the court. Further information can be accessed here: https://www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/news/nuffield-family-justice-observatory-to-monitor-data-from-new-national-dols-deprivation-of-liberty-court<\/a>.<\/p>