The government has announced a ‘major reform’ to children’s social care which will give Ofsted greater powers to crack down on exploitative, profiteering providers and those which deliver substandard care.
Alongside these new powers, the government says it will ‘rebalance’ the children’s social care system in favour of early intervention, giving families the legal right to be involved in decisions about their child’s care.
The reforms come following recommendations laid out in the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care report, which was published following widespread reports of abuse and neglect at children’s care homes belonging to the Hesley Group.
The report looked at the experiences of 108 children and young adults with disabilities and complex needs residing at various homes owned by the group. It revealed a culture of abuse and harm, including evidence of physical abuse and violence, neglect, emotional abuse and sexual harm.
There was also evidence that medication was misused and maladministered, an over-use of restraints, and unsafe and inappropriate use of temporary confinement. The three care homes investigated in the report have since been closed.
Given the severity of the allegations and evidence uncovered, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel recommended that urgent action was taken by all local authorities to ensure all children with complex needs and disabilities currently living in similar children’s homes are safe and well.
At the time, the Hesley Group made a 16% profit from the care homes it ran, and the government says the new reforms will increase financial transparency in a bid to prevent profiteering.
According to an analysis by the Local Government Association, there are now over 1,500 children in placements each costing the equivalent of over £0.5 million every year, while the largest 15 private providers make an average of 23% profit.
Under the new reforms, the government will introduce a “backstop” law which will put a limit on the profit providers can make. Key placement providers will also be obliged to share their finances with the government, allowing profiteering to be challenged and preventing large providers from unexpectedly going bankrupt, leaving children without a home.
The government also plans to introduce preventative services to bring and end to unnecessary spending on crisis level intervention which has been rising year on year. The Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson says this will enable children to stay in family support networks wherever possible, with further details laid out in the upcoming Local Government Finance Settlement.
“Our care system has suffered from years of drift and neglect. It’s bankrupting councils, letting families down, and above all, leaving too many children feeling forgotten, powerless and invisible.
“We want to break down the barriers to opportunity and end the cycle of crisis through ambitious reforms to give vulnerable children the best life chances – because none of us thrive until all of us do.
“We will crack down on care providers making excessive profit, tackle unregistered and unsafe provision and ensure earlier intervention to keep families together and help children to thrive,” Phillipson said.
Other key reforms announced today include:
Cllr Arooj Shah, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, has welcomed the reforms but warns that funding and workforce challenges could limit progress.
“It is positive to see the Government building on recent progress following the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, and pursuing an approach rooted in what we know works for children and their families.
“We are particularly pleased to see an ongoing focus on early help and family networks, and a strong commitment to tackling profiteering and other problems in the market for children’s social care placements.
“Moving forward, progress will be limited by the significant funding and workforce challenges within children’s social care, councils and amongst partners more widely. It is vital that the Government uses the forthcoming Spending Review to ensure that all those working to keep children safe and to help them thrive have the resources they need to do that well,” she said.
