Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to provide seed funding to local authorities towards the Stable Homes, Built on Love initiative.

‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ sets out six pillars of reform for Children’s Social Care. The department has announced £200 million of additional investment over the next two years to support implementation of the reforms. This includes funding to local authorities to support laying the groundwork for longer term reforms through two Pathfinders (the Families First for Children Pathfinder, and the other trialling Regional Care Cooperatives). They will allow us to test complex reforms in order to enable improved family support, more decisive child protection, empowerment of wider family networks, and improved planning, delivering and commissioning of homes for children to live in. The Pathfinders will help us answer key delivery questions, develop our understanding of the benefits and constraints of new models, and work collaboratively with local areas and partners to operationalise them.

Throughout the reforms we will engage local authorities to ensure policy reforms can be developed and implemented collaboratively.