Council leader Arooj Shah has praised the major reform of children's social care announced by the government.
Yesterday (Monday, November 18), the government announced the new plans to overhaul the children's social care support system in England, targeting the high prices of private providers.
The major reform will also look to break the cycle of late intervention and help keep families together wherever possible.
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A wide range of new reform measures will be set out in Parliament to deliver better outcomes and a more secure life for children across the England.
This will include the government empowering social workers, and all those that work with children, to take action against children’s placements providers that deliver subpar standards of care at sky-high costs to councils and focus the system on early intervention.
Cllr Shah, who is the chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said: “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.
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“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.”
The number of children looked after in the North West has remained consistently high over the last four years, decreasing by just 40 children from 15,130 to 15,090, with social workers burdened by heavy caseloads and struggling to deliver the help that children and families need before problems escalate.
MP Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton, Jim McMahon, said on social media "children’s social care is in urgent need of reform", siting "eye-watering private provider costs, often with worst outcomes for young people" and adding that "councils are pushed over the financial cliff edge".
According to the Local Government Association, there are now over 1,500 children in placements each costing the equivalent of over £500,000 every year, while the largest 15 private providers make an average of 23 per cent profit.
New rules as part of the reform will require those that provide homes for the most children to share their finances with the government, allowing profiteering to be challenged.
The government has also said it may introduce a “backstop” law to put a limit on the profit providers can make if providers do not voluntarily put an end to profiteering.
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