Opinion

Children’s commissioning needs pragmatic solutions

Derren Hayes editor, Children & Young People Nowderren.hayes@markallengroup.com
Derren Hayes: 'Change will not be straightforward to deliver. Key will be assessing if it is feasible for health and police staff to be seconded into specialist units.'
Derren Hayes: 'Change will not be straightforward to deliver. Key will be assessing if it is feasible for health and police staff to be seconded into specialist units.'

Care commissioning is an emotive issue. Following a decade or more of austerity in the public sector, it is understandable that children’s services and charity leaders bristle when reading about soaring profits among private sector providers.

In a sector with not enough residential or foster care placements it is inevitable that rising demand will result in prices going up. It is also inevitable that some providers have taken advantage of this, particularly where unplanned placements are made.

However, in most cases care providers operate on low profit margins and deliver good quality care. Independent sector associations also point out that many do this while working within multi-year agreements that restrict their ability to raise rates in line with rising costs (see special report).

Register Now to Continue Reading

Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's Included

  • Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month

  • Email newsletter providing advice and guidance across the sector

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here


More like this

Hertfordshire Youth Workers

“Opportunities in districts teams and countywide”

Administration Apprentice

SE1 7JY, London (Greater)