The Department told us that local authorities have a lot of discretion to make decisions impacting children’s social care provision. It described how, for example, some local authorities provided foster carers with capital grants to convert and increase the space available in their homes, while some local authorities informally cooperated on a regional basis.10 The Department has started providing more support to local authorities on forecasting, commissioning and market shaping but has not yet rolled out this support nationally.11 We asked when it would provide local authorities with further encouragement and direction, given the systematic and fundamental nature of the challenges. It told us that it was awaiting Ministerial decisions.12