Mansfield MP welcomes Government plan to transform children’s social care

The Children’s Social Care Implementation Strategy will transform the current care system to focus on more early support for families, reducing the need for crisis response at a later stage.

The plan responds to recommendations made by three independent reviews by Josh MacAlister, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel into the tragic murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson, and the Competition and Markets Authority.

Under this plan, families will receive local early help and intervention with challenges such as addiction, domestic abuse or mental health, to help families to stay together where possible and overcome adversity. This will help prevent children being put in a position where their parents are no longer able to care for them.

The evidence is clear that children who grow up in loving, stable homes tend to have better outcomes. That is why this plan has put family-like placements at the heart of the care system when a child is no longer able to stay with their parents.

Under this plan, foster carers will also see an above-inflation increase in their allowance to help cover the increasing costs of caring for a child in their home, in recognition of the brilliant care they provide to children.

This is alongside £25 million over the next two years on a recruitment and retention programme, which is the largest investment in recent history.

Coun Bradley, also Nottinghamshire Council leader, said: “It is really welcome that government has responded to the three independent reviews with this plan to improve child social care.

“As somebody who is directly involved in the delivery of care and looking after Nottinghamshire’s most vulnerable people, it is really positive that there is going to be significant investment in these services.

“I completely agree with the broad principles of this plan, that keeping children within their own homes and communities and in stable long-term relationships and placements is better for all involved.

“While residential care is sadly sometimes needed, the focus on measures to prevent residential care being needed has to be the right way forward.

“Over the coming days I also look forward to seeing how this plan will boost our child social care workforce.

“Just like adult social care, children’s social care has faced huge difficulties in getting the right levels and expertise of staffing in order to make a difference to these children’s lives. It is really important that the staffing issues are properly addressed.

“Overall, this plan sets out a really positive long-term direction for our children’s social care services and sets out the right principle, that it is better to support families to stop children needing to go into residential care.

“I look forward to working with government to progress this plan for Nottinghamshire and Mansfield and Warsop.”