The education secretary Nadhim Zahawi has set out a raft of initial measures to support vulnerable children and families in England, with more expected to be announced in the coming months, following an independent review of children’s social care, authored by Josh MacAlister, recommending an urgent multibillion-pound overhaul of the system.
The Department for Education (DfE) commissioned review highlights a spate of high-profile child protection tragedies and raises concern over the impact of the pandemic, rising poverty and the cost-of-living crisis on vulnerable families.
It criticises the Government for a ‘lack of national direction’ over social care and urges ministers to commit to a five-year £2.6bn programme.
It puts forward a number of recommendations such as a raft of financial and legal support to help kinship carers to look after child relatives, investment in the social care workforce to address high vacancy and turnover rates, and a new ‘family help’ service based in schools and children’s centres.
'The time is gone for half measures, tweaking or quick fixes'
Josh MacAlister, chair of the independent review, said, ‘Children, their families and those who have been in care have told me that change is desperately needed. There are too many stories of lives lived isolated, unfulfilled or cut short. The time is gone for half measures, tweaking or quick fixes. A fundamental reset is now needed and the review has produced a plan to do just that.
‘Change is now both morally urgent and financially unavoidable. We have a stark choice - keep pouring money into a faltering system or reform and invest to improve people’s lives and make the system sustainable for the future.
‘How we care for our children is a reflection of our values as a country. When we get it right, children’s social care allows children and families to flourish - it can be a reflection of England at its best.’
The big five children’s charities – NSPCC, Barnardo’s, National Children’s Bureau (NCB), The Children’s Society and Action for Children - welcomed the review, saying in a joint statement, ‘It provides a once in a generation opportunity to fix a struggling system’.
The Early Intervention Foundation said the ‘plan has the potential to achieve its stated goal of a “radical reset”, while Anne Longfield, chair of the Commission on Young Lives and former Children’s Commissioner for England, said the review ‘provides the Government with an ambitious and affordable plan to improve a broken system.’
Action for Children’s director of policy and campaigns Imran Hussain said, ‘Now it's time to turn these words into action. The Government must grasp this opportunity to urgently reform the system, working alongside care-experienced young people.’
In response, the Government has announced the following measures to improve the system:
- A new National Implementation Board of sector experts and people with experience of leading transformational change and the care system. The Board will also boost efforts to recruit more foster carers, increase support for social workers and implement a new evidence-based framework for all those working in the sector.
- Funding for seven areas of England to set up family hubs.
- Money for local authorities for schemes that support vulnerable children to remain engaged in their education and strengthen links between social care and education.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, said, ‘This is the start of a journey to change the culture and dramatically reform the children’s social care system.
‘Everything we do to raise the outcomes for children and families must be backed by evidence. This report will be central in taking forward our ambition to ensure every child has a loving and stable home and we will continue working with experts and people who have experienced care to deliver change on the ground.
‘We are ready to meet the challenge set by this review and I will set out my plans for bold and ambitious change in the coming months.’
- The independent review of children's social care is available here
