Care Review response: Labour slams 'piecemeal' measures for reform
Nicole Weinstein
Monday, February 6, 2023
Measures announced in the government's response to the Care Review fall far short of the “radical reset” of children's social care called for in chair Josh McAlister's final report, according to the Labour Party.
Shadow early years and children minister Helen Hayes told members of the House of Commons last week (3 February), that she “welcomes” the £200m package of measures announced by the government to reform the children’s social care system, but the government’s response is not the "radical reset" the review demanded and “which we need”.
Measures announced in the government response to the Independent Review of Children's Social Care include plans to curtail the use of agency social workers, greater oversight of private residential care providers and plans to model new early intervention initiatives across 12 local authorities over two years.
Paying tribute to children's sector staff including social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, youth workers and directors of children’s services, she said: “Across the country, they will be left asking of the plan, ‘is this really it?’
For thirteen the Tories have been failing our most vulnerable children
— Helen Hayes 💙🌹 (@helenhayes_) February 2, 2023
The measures announced today fall far short of the 'radical reset' of children's social care called for by the Independent Review
My response to the government's announcement today #carereview > pic.twitter.com/u8abuJGk52
“There is no vision for the direction of children’s social care. There is no ambition for our most vulnerable children. There is no cross-cutting commitment from the top of government to deliver better for every child and every care-experienced person in every part of our country.
“This government has spent months legislating to restrict the fundamental rights to protest and to strike, but they have chosen not to make time to legislate to strengthen protections for children.”
In a number of questions directed at Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, Hayes asked: “Does the Secretary of State really believe that this is enough?”
She said: “Does [she] think that today’s announcements will support improvements in the 43 percent of children’s services departments currently rated 'inadequate' or requiring improvement? What will the impact be on kinship carers currently gripped by the cost-of-living crisis? How will the measures announced today deliver meaningful support to 16- and 17-year-olds currently placed in unregulated settings?"
She continued: “What meetings has she had with other government departments whose policies play a role in the disadvantage and discrimination suffered by care-experienced people? When will profiteering by providers of children’s homes and foster placements end? How will these piecemeal measures ensure that we see a transformative change in the way we support our most vulnerable children and that the aim of long-lasting, loving relationships for every child is the driving force at the heart of children’s services everywhere?”
Referring to the “grotesque profiteering” in children’s social care, Hayes said that last year, the 20 biggest private providers of children’s homes and private foster placements made “£300m in profits”.
“The government’s own data shows that six in 10 councils are spending more than three quarters of their funding for residential placements with private providers - providers such as the Hesley Group, where a placement costs £250,000, but instead of high-quality care and support, children were subjected to horrific abuse.
“I welcome the consultation on national rules for the use of agency social workers, but where is the plan to end the grotesque profiteering in children’s social care and ensure that funding is always spent on the best quality care and support?”
Responding to the questions, Keegan said: “This is the start of the journey, to lay the foundations for wider whole-system reform. We need this to be evidence-led.
“We must put families at the heart of that and change the whole purpose of the system, which is not really focused on trying to get people the help they need, as opposed to just intervening and telling them what they ought to be doing. We need to help people in the first instance to stay with families.
Commenting on the work that has been done on local authority intervention and improvement, she said that the number of "inadequate" local authorities has gone from 30 “down to 14”, and the number of local authorities that are "good" or "outstanding" in this area has “gone from 54 to 85”.
In relation to claims over excessive profiteering by some children’s homes, Keegan said: “We will be introducing a new financial oversight regime, because we are determined to make sure we cut that out. It is unacceptable.”