CYP Now - Councils ‘failing to navigate’ children’s social care market, research shows

The failure of local authorities to influence the cost and supply of residential child care is affecting their ability to provide suitable placements for vulnerable children, according to research commissioned by the Care Review.

Children are entering care with more complex needs, councils have said. Picture: Adobe Stock

A report by What Works for Children’s Social Care (WWCSC), which will feed into the upcoming review of children’s social care in England, finds that “most local authorities are experiencing an increasing demand for children’s residential care accompanied with rising costs for these provisions”.

Despite this, 44 per cent of English local authorities do not have a publicly available or up-to-date sufficiency strategy, according to the report.

Responding to the findings, Josh MacAlister, chair of the Care Review, said the lack of sufficiency planning means children are more likely to be “moved around the country, unable to stay at their school, remain in touch with their brothers or sisters or build new relationships that will last”.

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