The online poll on the state of the children’s residential care sector found that just 22% of respondents said they were “confident” or “very confident” that reforms to placement commissioning and the curbing of providers’ profits would provide better-quality places at lower cost to local authorities by 2030.
By comparison, 35% of survey respondents said they were “unconfident” or “very unconfident” in the prospects for the reforms, while a further 43% were “unsure”.
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The survey, conducted throughout February in partnership with Hexagon Care Services, sought views on the creation of regional care co-operatives (RCCs) to commission placements across a wider area, and government plans in the Schools and Children’s Wellbeing Bill to tackle profiteering in the sector.
While there was deep scepticism about the potential for RCCs to deliver savings – just 15% thought they would while 34% were not – there was widespread support among respondents to curtail the profit levels of private sector providers.
Some 77% of respondents backed a cap, although many are concerned the measure could make placement finding harder - two-thirds said they are worried it could reduce the supply of residential care places locally.
There was less support for a complete ban on profit-making providers, as is planned in Wales, with 40% backing such a measure.
When asked about the biggest challenge facing residential care, 41% of respondents highlighted
the shortage of the right type of placements while 22% identified workforce pressures.
Just over half of survey respondents said their council had opened at least one new home in the past three years. The main reasons for this included to improve the quality of residential care (25%), to save money (24%), to gain more control over placements and costs (22%) and to boost capacity due to rising demand (21%).
Meanwhile, 83% of respondents said children were entering residential care with more complex needs.
Simon Hammond, chief executive of Hexagon Care Services, said: “The survey paints a stark picture of the children’s residential care sector: escalating complexity, spiralling costs, and a system under immense strain. While the survey elicited thoughtful responses from sector experts, it revealed a concerning lack of clarity on how to address this crisis.”
- To read the analysis on the survey findings, click here
