Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2018 to Question 123221, when his Department plans to begin its review of children in need.

The department has committed to undertake a review into children in need, to understand the needs of these vulnerable children.

Already, we are building an evidence base, including to address a critical challenge around how far children in need are currently supported through targeted and effective practice to reduce risk within families and prevent harm from escalating. To this end, the department has invested £6 million from the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme specifically to test targeted support for children in need.

Work has been underway within the department in order to scope the review, including through looking at the current evidence available and speaking to professionals in children’s social care and schools, and other experts.

We intend to complete this scoping exercise before beginning the review.