Cameron earmarks children's services as priority reform area

In a speech today Cameron will set out government thinking on how to deliver £20bn of cuts.

He will say that the government will adopt a “smarter” approach to public services, running the state more like a business.

Changes to the way child protection and children’s services are delivered, potentially by “bringing in new providers” are central to the plans.

“What energises many markets are new insurgent companies, who break monopolies and bring in new ways of doing things,” Cameron will say.

“We can apply this thinking to government. So many of our country’s efforts to extend opportunity have been undermined by a tolerance of state failure.

“Children in care and prisons being two standout areas. Reform – be it breaking state monopolies, bringing in new providers, or allowing new ways of doing things – can cut the costs of these failures both economically and socially and help advance the progressive causes of spreading opportunity and enhancing social mobility that we should all care about.”

He will also say that government departments, local authorities and charities must “work together more collaboratively” on social services and child protection.

Meanwhile local authorities deemed to be “failing children” will be given a “clear message” that they must transform the way they provide services, or they will be taken over by non-profit trusts.

“What we are showing is that deficit reduction and an opportunity society are not alternatives,” Cameron will say.

“They can complement each other. Because with a smarter state, we can spend less and deliver more.

“If we make the right decisions, then far from getting in the way of our progressive goals, the changes we make can, in many cases, actually improve the services that government delivers – and help people.

“It’s not unlike business. Businesses are constantly adapting and changing, using new technology or new methods of delivery, to improve both their products and reduce their costs.”

The Department for Education is currently conducting a study into the spending habits of local authority children’s services departments ahead of the Spending Review.

An expression of interest document for researchers interested in carrying out the work said the DfE wants to "understand better how local authorities responded to funding pressures over the last parliament and their forecasts for changes in demand for, and expenditure on, children’s services in future".