| answer text |
<p>The government is committed to delivering long-term, sustainable improvements to
the children’s social care system. We are working to identify the sorts of interventions
that really work to help prevent the need for children to become looked-after or re-enter
the care system. This is a key focus for the Partners in Practice Programme, Innovation
Programme and What Works Centre.</p><p> </p><p>No representations have been received
from county councils and local government organisations regarding increases in children
re-entering the care system and no discussions have been had with Essex County Council
on projected costs and other implications of children re-entering the care system.</p><p>
</p><p>However, we recognise that local councils are delivering children’s services
in a challenging environment and need to make tough choices about priorities to achieve
efficiencies. The government is supporting local councils to do this in a number of
ways. The Department for Education (DfE) has invested £200m since 2014 in our Innovation
Programme and Partners in Practice Programme. As part of this, we have committed £20m
to provide additional support to local councils where the risk of service failure
is highest. We are committed to working with partners to understand how DfE might
further support improvement across the system.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
|
|
