Agenda item

The Panel will consider an update on the Government’s response in February 2023 to the McCallister, National Care Review which was published in May 2022

Contact:         Elaine McShane, Service Director

The Panel received a report on the Government’s response to the McCallister, National Care Review which was published in May 2022.

Vicky Metheringham, Service Director for Child Protection and Family Support explained that on 2^nd February 2023, the Department for Education (DfE) issued its response to the independent review of children’s social care, the child safeguarding practice review panel’s inquiry into the murders of two children and the competition and markets authority’s study of the children’s social care market in three consultation documents.  The consultations closed on 11^th May 2023 and the outcome would inform future planning within Children’s Services at both a local and national level.

In response to the McCallister report of 2022, the DfE set out an initial response for addressing a range of issues that impacted children’s social care services.  The following key areas that were covered as part of the consultation period were:

• Funding – The DfE committed to providing £200m in funding over two years which was below the recommendation by the Care Review,
• Social Work and Training – An early career framework was to be established, replacing the assessed year in practice,
• Social work recruitment – The DfE was to explore ways to support the recruitment of up to 500 additional child and family social worker apprentices,
• Agency social work – The DfE proposed bringing in national rules to reduce the cost and use of agency social workers in children’s services.
• Social Worker Pay – The DfE rejected the care review recommendation for national pay scales for social workers on the grounds that this risked destabilising the local government pay system for insufficient benefit,
• Social Worker Registration – The DfE had rejected the care review proposal for all registered social workers, including managers and academics, to spend 100 hours in direct work each year to remain close to practice,
• Family Help – The DfE had confirmed that out of the £200m a figure of £45m would be allocated for up to 12 ‘families first for children pathfinder’ areas to trial the care review proposal to introduce multidisciplinary family help services, to provide non-judgemental, joined up support for families affected by issues such as domestic violence or poor mental health,
• Child Protection – It had been proposed that children protection lead practitioners, who would receive advanced specialist training would be appointed to lead safeguarding cases in the pathfinder areas, as called for by the care review,
• Independent Reviewing Officers and Child Protection Conference Chairs – The DfE had rejected the care reviews proposal to abolish the independent reviewing officer role,
• Involving Family Networks – The 12 pathfinders would test using family group decision making, such as family group conferences, at an early stage to support parents minimise risk to children. In addition, seven areas would test providing family support network packages providing resources to help families care for children and avoid them going into care,
• Kinship Care – A kinship care strategy to be published in 2023 while £9m to be spent on improving training and support to kinship carers,
• Foster Care – Of the £200m set aside for this work, it was agreed that £27m would be spent on a carer recruitment and retention programme over the next two years focussing on shortage areas, such as sibling groups, teenagers, unaccompanied children, parent and child placements and children who had suffered complex trauma,
• Commissioning Care Placements – The DfE had backed the care review’s proposal to transfer responsibility for the commissioning of care placements from individual council to regional groupings of authorities. Regional care co-operatives would initially be tested in two pathfinder areas before being rolled out,
• Financial Oversight of Providers – The National body would also introduce a financial oversight regime for the largest children’s home providers and independent fostering agencies, similar to that for adult social care, by reducing the risk of providers exiting the market suddenly,
• Relationships for Children in Care and Care Leavers – The DfE had made the commitment of £30m which was to be spent on family finding, befriending and mentoring programmes for looked after children and care leavers, to help them find and maintain relationships,
• Support for Care Leavers – The suggested grant made available to children leaving care would increase from £2,000 to £3,000, while the bursary for those undertaking apprenticeships would rise from £1,000 to £3,000,
• Care Experience – The DfE had rejected the care review’s call for care experience to become a protected characteristic under equality law, which would have required public bodies to tackle inequalities facing those with care experience and prohibit businesses and employers from discriminating against them,
• National Standards and Outcomes – The DfE would consult on a children’s social care national framework, as proposed by the Review.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted and that officers be thanked for their contributions.