Appearing before the education select committee, which has previously recommended that the age for leaving residential care be raised to 21, Sir Martin Narey told MPs that such a move would cost a "huge sum of money" and he is keen to find "pragmatic and affordable" ways of improving the system.
Questioned by the chair of the committee, Conservative MP Neil Carmichael, on recommendations made in various previous reports on children's residential care that are yet to be acted on, Narey said there are "some good ideas" which are "difficult to translate into practice because of affordability issues".
He said he has met children while visiting children's homes who would clearly benefit from remaining in their placement for longer, but cited cost as a barrier.
"If only 25 per cent of children in children's homes opt to stay put the cost to the government would be about £144m over three years – that's a huge sum of money," he said.
"If the proportion is 100 per cent it is more than half a billion pounds.
"I have done reports for the government before and I have always tried very hard to recommend things that are financially feasible. I don't want to make recommendations that will be accepted in spirit and not be taken forward.
"I want to find a way of doing things that can be delivered against the backdrop of the considerable spending limitations there would be on this government or any government and, of course, there are limitations on local authorities."
Narey suggested that he will recommend less fundamental reform of the system.
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