Children: Social Services
(asked on 25th October 2016) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of outsourcing children's social care services and the running of care homes to private companies on the wellbeing of children under the supervision of social workers and children living in care homes or foster homes.
The Government’s position on profit making in Children’s Social Care was set out in Putting Children First – Delivering our vision for excellent children’s social care[1]. We want to support improvement by freeing up good local authorities to be innovative with the solutions they put in place, not by compelling them to outsource. We are not considering options to either centralise wholescale delivery of children’s social care services or allow profit- making organisations to deliver them. The department has no intention of revisiting the settled position of profit making.
The department does not hold discussions with private companies wishing to register as a children’s home. Ofsted is the regulator of those organisations wishing to set up as a children’s home. Occasionally, the department may get an inquiry from a private company asking how to register as a children’s home. The Department refers these inquiries to the Ofsted guidance[2]. Occasionally the department engages with all providers of children’s homes on relevant policy, for instance through consultations or events – this will include all types of providers. No discussions have taken place with private companies regarding the power to test different ways of working or the running children’s trusts.
The LaingBuisson analysis on the potential for developing the capacity and diversity of children’s social care services in England was commissioned by the Department in response to the 2014 Le Grand review in Birmingham. The Le Grand review recommended a specific study on the options for commissioning when dealing with failing local authorities. We are committed to publishing this independent report and will do so imminently.
Regarding specifically the running of care homes by private companies, in 2016 there was very little difference in the proportion of local authority-run homes that were rated good or better by Ofsted (80%) and private sector homes that were good or better (78%).
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-open-a-childrens-home