Children’s social care

Education Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 22 Nov 2024 Closed: 2 Feb 2026 Parliament page
In December 2023, the previous Education Committee began an important inquiry into the state of children's social care in England. Unfortunately, this work was interrupted by the General Election and the dissolution of Parliament on 30 May 2024, which meant all select committees were disbanded. Recognising the critical nature of … Read more
14 Recommendations
64 Conclusions
1 Report
8 Oral sessions
5 Letters
8 Events
Activity timeline 23 events
17 Oct
2025
Report published
15 Jul
2025
Correspondence
10 Jul
2025
Report published
23 Apr
2025
Correspondence
8 Apr
2025
Correspondence
18 Mar
2025
Oral evidence
18 Mar
2025
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
11 Feb
2025
Oral evidence
11 Feb
2025
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
21 Jan
2025
Oral evidence
21 Jan
2025
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
7 Jan
2025
Correspondence
Oral evidence sessions 8 sessions
18 Mar 2025
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Children’s Social Care
Fran Oram · Department for Education Janet Daby MP · The Department for Education
11 Feb 2025
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Children’s Social Care
Dan Turnbull · Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Georgia Sullivan Jake Hartley Lamar Mohsen Louise Fitt Mr Sam Turner · Kinship Mrs Denise Rawls · The National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL) Roger Gough · The County Councils Network (CCN)
21 Jan 2025
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Children’s Social Care
Andy Smith · Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) Anna Edmundson · National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) Annie Hudson · Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel Claire Throssell MBE Lynn Perry MBE · Barnardo’s Rob Williams · National Association of Head Teachers
17 Dec 2024
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Children’s Social Care
Councillor Arooj Shah · Local Government Association (LGA) Dr Mark Kerr · Children’s Homes Association Harriet Edwards · Sense James Bury · CoramBAAF Jo Harrison · National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF) Katharine Sacks-Jones · Become Maris Stratulis · British Association of Social Workers England Matthew Horne · Innovation Unit
30 Apr 2024
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Children’s social care
Annie Hudson · Child Safeguarding Review Panel Ms Katie Ghose · Kids Professor Michelle McManus, Professor of Safeguarding and Violence Prevention Stephen Kingdom · Disabled Children’s Partnership Tina Emory OBE · National Network of Parent Carer Forums Yvette Stanley · Ofsted
16 Apr 2024
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Children's Social Care (3/5)
Emily Frith · Adoption UK Lucille Allain · Association of Professors of Social Work Lucy Peake · Kinship Mary Jackson · Frontline Matt Clayton · Coventry City Council Sarah Thomas · The Fostering Network
26 Mar 2024
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Children’s social care
Dan Turnbull · Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Dr Mark Kerr · Children’s Homes Association John Pearce · Association of Directors of Children’s Services Mr Andrew Isaac · Children’s Services Development Group Ms Lucy Croxton · Together Trust Roger Gough · The County Councils Network (CCN) Stuart Ashley · Hampshire County Council
27 Feb 2024
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Children’s social care
Dinithi Wijedasa · Bristol University Dr Ray Jones · Kingston University June Thoburn CBE · University of East Anglia Katharine Sacks-Jones · Become Lynn Perry MBE · Barnardo’s Will McMahon · Care Leavers’ Association
Title HC No. Published Items Response
4th Report - Children’s social care HC 430 10 Jul 2025 78 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
4 results
Clear
9 Conclusion Rejected
4th Report - Children’s social care
Clarify specific family group decision-making model within statutory guidance for consistent practice.
The Department should clarify the specific model of FGDM in statutory guidance to ensure that best practice is followed in all local authorities. (Recommendation, Paragraph 22)
Government Response
The government states it does not prescribe a specific model of Family Group Decision Making (FGDM), leaving the decision to local authorities, but will provide general statutory and best practice guidance to support delivery.
Department for Education
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19 Conclusion Rejected
4th Report - Children’s social care
Publish national children's social care sufficiency strategy and mandate local out-of-area placement reduction plans.
The Department for Education must publish a national sufficiency strategy for children’s social care as a matter of urgency and publish data on the extent to which sufficiency requirements are being met on an annual basis. It should also require … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects publishing a national sufficiency strategy, stating that local authorities are best placed for sufficiency planning. Instead, they are supporting regional collaboration through Regional Care Cooperatives and investing £560 million to expand local authority placements.
Department for Education
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36 Conclusion Rejected
4th Report - Children’s social care
Extend Pupil Premium Plus and priority school admissions to all kinship care children.
The Department for Education should extend Pupil Premium Plus funding and priority school admissions to all children who meet the new statutory definition of living in kinship care. (Recommendation, Paragraph 85)
Government Response
The government rejects extending Pupil Premium Plus funding and priority school admissions to all children in kinship care, citing limited evidence and a lack of national data. They are, however, exploring collecting this data for future policy development.
Department for Education
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45 Conclusion Rejected
4th Report - Children’s social care
Develop universal standards of care applicable to all children's homes, including supported accommodation.
The Department for Education must follow the recommendation of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and develop universal standards of care that apply to all homes, including supported accommodation, ensuring that children in all settings receive care where they … Read more
Government Response
The government rejected the recommendation to develop a single universal set of standards, stating it is instead focusing on updating outdated National Minimum Standards and aligning them with more recently developed ones.
Department for Education
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Government Response AI assessment · 78 of 14 classified
Accepted 45
Accepted in Part 6
Acknowledged 15
Deferred 5
Not Addressed 3
Rejected 4
Total 14 recs + 64 conclusions
Correspondence 5 letters
15 Jul 2025 To committee Letter from Minister for Children and Families on New Children's Homes dated 09.07.25
Parliament page
23 Apr 2025 To committee Letter from Minister for Children and Families on Children's Social Care, dated 08.04.25
Parliament page
8 Apr 2025 From committee Letter to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Children and Families) on Children's Social Care, dated 24.03.25
Parliament page
7 Jan 2025 To committee letter from Maris Stratulis, National Director, BASW England on Children's Social Care, dated 02.01.25
Parliament page
24 May 2024 Correspondence to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing on the Committee's inquiry into Children's social care
Parliament page