In early 2014, the tri-borough councils in London became one of the first areas to benefit from the Department for Education's £100m, two-year Children's Social Care Innovation Fund.
The announcement last month of the consultation into the widescale outsourcing of children's services would have surprised few in the sector. Controversial though it may be, the government has been laying the groundwork for the creation of a children's social care "market" for the past year. But although the direction of travel has been clear for some time, the ramifications of such a move are only now starting to be thought through.