Written evidence submitted by the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS)

About Us

NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service) is a leading rights-based charity providing high-quality advocacy and legal representation for children, young people and adults in vulnerable situations who might be in care, subject to child protection plans or have mental health issues across England and Wales.

We listen to what children, young people and adults in vulnerable situations want, care about what they say and do everything we can to empower them to have a voice and be heard when important decisions are being made which affect their future.

Introduction

Thank you for the opportunity to provide written evidence to this inquiry. I am writing on behalf of NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service), a leading children’s rights charity that supports and empowers care-experienced children, young people and adults in vulnerable situations across England and Wales.

NYAS is the largest independent provider of independent advocacy services across England and Wales supports over 10,000 children, young people and adults on an annual basis through the provisioning of services.

NYAS recognises challenges facing the children’s social care sector including cost-of-living pressures, budgetary constraints and a lack of high-quality placements. We remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting, safeguarding and empowering the voices of the children and young people who we work with.

This submission is structured under four key headings in order to meet the requirements of the terms of reference provided by the committee:

1. Is the current provision of children’s social care sufficient to meet demand?
2. What factors are causing the increase in demand for children’s social care?
3. The reasons behind the rising cost of children’s social care for local authorities and ways to mitigate this.
4. How effective has the government’s Stable Homes, Built on Love implementation strategy been so far? How effective is it projected to be in the long term?

1.       Is the current provision of children’s social care sufficient to meet demand?

No, the current provision of children’s social care in England is not sufficient to meet demand, as it faces a perfect storm of significant financial challenges, worker shortages and a record increase in demand.

The delivery of children’s services has fast become one of the biggest budgetary issues facing local authorities in several years, with current funding levels unable to meet demand.[1] Despite councils spending £11.1 billion on children’s social care in 2021/22, up 41.6% since 2009/10,[2] all 151 councils with responsibility for the delivery of children’s services overspent their budgets by a combined £946.5m.[3] Councils nationally are grappling with a sustained increase in the number of children requiring looked after support,[4] and an exponential increase in the cost of children’s residential care which increased by 14.6% in 2021/2022 alone.[5] This is despite the Competition and Markets Authority finding that private residential care providers, which number 83% of total residential care places in England, did not always meet the needs of children in their care in 2022.[6]

NYAS welcomed the commitment from government to protect, review and strengthen the role of Regulation 44 Visitors following unevidenced proposals to remove this role within the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. In 2021/22 alone, NYAS’ Regulation 44 Visitors carried out almost 6,000 visits across England and made 12,580 recommendations to children’s homes, centrally made through feedback collected from children and young people in their care. We remain dedicated to working with government on enhancing this role, ensuring value, true independence and parity of quality between different types of homes. Given the challenges facing residential placements, it is imperative that monthly independent visits continue to highlight children’s voices and experiences within these settings while ensuring adequate reporting on their safety, welfare and progress. However, this can only do so much without an understanding of the financial challenges plaguing the sector.

The risk of market failure for children in care placements, as labelled by the Department for Education, is now “critical to very likely” during the 2023/24 financial year – and worsening - due to rising costs and a lack of appropriate placements to meet their needs.[7] This has also been escalated to the Civil Service Board as a cross-governmental risk. NYAS believes that the current model risks collapse without investment and commitment from government, posing significant risk to vulnerable children and young people who depend upon it.

NYAS also notes significant concern with the ability of councils to maintain quality children’s social care provisions outside of core statutory services. Since 2018, six councils have effectively declared bankruptcy, with 1 in 10 councils at risk of effective bankruptcy in the next few months.[8] Without an injection of financial support from central government, many more councils face serious financial difficulty over the next year amidst a collective £4bn deficit, caused chiefly by soaring inflation and increased demand. Some councils have stated that they are being “held to ransom” by private care providers, paying as much as £3.3 million a year for a single child’s children’s social care placement.[9]

In Birmingham, the council have proposed £57 million of cuts to their children and families department, which includes education and early years, SEND and social care, as they attempt to plug a £300 million budget gap.[10] Though statutory services will remain, it is highly likely that early intervention and family support programmes will no longer be offered by the council, again forcing the council into a state of reactivity in delivering children’s social care. Birmingham City Council, alike many others in precarious financial positions, will be forced to prioritise late stage, crisis intervention due to an absence of early intervention and family support levers.

2.       What factors are causing the increase in demand for children’s social care?

Increase in Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children

Department for Education has recorded a 29% increase in the number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) requiring support since 2022, a 42% increase on pre-pandemic 2019 figures.[11] It is anticipated that this figure will continue to rise as children seek refuge in safe nations.

Paragraph 158 of the UK Government’s Implementation Strategy says that local authorities find it particularly challenging to find homes for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, as these children often have specific needs and require particular support.[12] Paragraph 193 of the UK Government’s Implementation Strategy then says that semi-independent provision, including supported lodgings, can be the right option for some older children, but only where it is high-quality, and the young person is ready for the level of independence it promotes.[13] Despite this, UASC are far more likely than their peers to enter supported accommodation with 45% of UASC living in semi-independent accommodation compared to the national average of 23%.[14]

Under the Children’s Act (2004), UASC are automatically a looked after child (LAC) under the care of the local authority and, as such, have the right to a safe and stable placement – and the care that they need – to promote their welfare and reach their potential. The use of supported accommodation to house UASC who are more likely to have complex physical and mental health needs due to the trauma, violence and familial separation they have faced, in addition to their inherent vulnerabilities as children,[15] is in direct contravention of this. Further, this is exacerbated by new regulations for supported accommodation which state that staff cannot provide care for young people in these environments.

However, as aforementioned, the tightening of local authority budgets, given the challenges in meeting the demands of children’s social care expenses, constrains the ability of local authorities to provide specialist, and often adequate, placements for children and young people in their care. With rising numbers of UASC year-on-year, NYAS is concerned that UASC will continue to be funnelled into supported placements that do not meet their needs, or their rights, in a bid to reduce cost.

As one NYAS Campaigns Advisor says: “Part of the argument on funding for me is why they put young people in unregulated accommodation. They say a lot of that is to do with it [money] and then they put in 8% [of requested funding].”

Increase in Child Poverty

Child poverty rises have been linked to 10,000 more children going into care between 2015 and 2020.[16] The cycle of poverty is intergenerational, with the children of care-experienced parents far more likely to enter care than their peers. More than a quarter (27%) of birth mothers and a fifth (19%) of birth fathers with children placed for adoption were themselves care leavers.[17]

The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care recommended that the UK Government invest £2.6 billion into children's social care between 2023 and 2027, with greater priority to be placed upon early intervention opposed to the current model of crisis intervention and acute responses (which often leads to an escalation of cases).[18] The UK Government instead only committed to £200 million of funding – less than 8% of the recommended investment.

If the care review’s suggested £2.6 billion investment and reform package were to have been implemented in full, the care review estimated that in 2032-33 there would have been 30,000 fewer children looked after than currently projected.[19] As the investment was not accepted by the UK Government, the number of children in care is again projected to rise. As NYAS Campaigns Advisors said, “it’s just going to create more strain on the system”.

3.       The reasons behind the rising cost of children’s social care for local authorities and ways to mitigate this.

Workforce Shortages

Problem

The children’s social care sector experienced a 28% decrease in foster care applications in 2021/22 amidst the highest ever number of social worker vacancies (representing 20% of the total workforce). [20] This combination has forced many councils to increase their agency worker spending, up 38% over the last five years,[21] to ensure continuity of core service provision. Despite the additional premium paid by councils to procure agency workers, real-term median wages for social workers in 2021/22 were still 4.5% below 2009/10 figures.[22] Early help practitioner roles face competition from sectors offering higher wages, resulting in high turnover.

The dominant factor in explaining attrition in the social worker workforce however is high caseloads. The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) found that 58% of UK social workers felt their caseloads were unmanageable, with a further 91% stating they believe that people who they support would be better protected if caseloads were lighter.[23] Ultimately, this constant churn of key adults in the life of a child or young person only introduces more instability and inhibits the development of positive adult relationships. As one Campaigns Advisor says on social worker pay: “It’s just going to create lower pay for staff members that don’t really want to be working there. It’s just going to create animosity. And that’s going to be taken out on the children”.

Ways to Mitigate

With the number of social workers leaving children and family positions in England exceeding new starters in 2022, it is not enough for the UK Government to create a national virtual hub at some point to identify and spread best practice to retain social workers. It is imperative that UK Government work and consult with both the National Joint Council and social workers themselves on developing a long-term, comprehensive plan for the workforce which includes better pay scales, grading, training and improved working conditions.

Further, government should support through investment, or financial injection, the implementation of the National Living Wage rate on local authorities to ensure sustainability of wage increases without putting additional pressure on local authority budgets. Scotland and Wales are taking steps to standardise pay and increase it beyond the National Living Wage and pay bonuses have been awarded in all three devolved countries.[24] England should explore the feasibility and impact of this on workforce retention with the aim of replicating successes.

Where social workers are being retained, local authorities must aim to make sure that children and young people remain under one social worker as much as possible. Continuous changes between social workers and the instability it causes for children and young people must be avoided.

Lack of High-Quality Placements and Out-of-Area Placements

Problem

Between 2015/16 and 2021/22, costs associated with the provision of children’s residential care increased by 66.2% in real term. This is made more significant by the fact that a third of all local authority spending on children in care can be accounted for by residential care solely.[25]

On a regional basis, there simply isn’t enough high-quality placements. North West England has 23% of all children’s homes places yet London has just 7%, despite substantial difference in population.[26] This creates a natural pathway for out-of-area placements, compounded by a shortage of trained professionals and lack of suitable facilities. The absence of secure children’s homes in London or the West Midlands, for example, is a stark reminder that access to care is not equal in England,[27] strengthened by the fact that only 5% of existing children’s homes can accommodate complex and/or specialist health needs.[28]

Further, the Independent Review of Children’s Social care identified that challenges in meeting placement demand has reduced local authority leverage when commissioning residential children’s care. This has led to 97% of placements being spot purchased by local authorities in 2022/23, often at short notice and substantially higher cost compared to block purchasing.[29] The formal procurement and tendering process also appears to be losing favourability with over a third of providers not engaging with formal tendering processes, doubling between 2020/21 and 2022/23, impinging on local authorities abillity to gain a truly commercial and competitive price.

Finally, planning laws and the stigma associated with the development of service provisions such as children’s homes and houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) further inhibits the ability to create new accommodation at the pace and scale needed to address the crisis. Akin to challenges seen across the private rental market, a lack of supply with ever increasing demand ultimately causes higher costs to be incurred.

Ways to Mitigate

In light of the critical shortfall in high-quality placements, strategic interventations are imperative in order to prevent market failure and safeguard the children and young people who’s care is dependent upon it.

First, UK Government must commit to a thorough evaluation of the financial viability and frameworks within the for-profit children’s residential care sector with an emphasis on eradicating profit-driven motivations that compromise the well-being of children and young people. As noted by the CMA, the largest private providers are making materially higher profits, and charing materially higher prices, that would be expected should this market be functioning correctly.[30] Children’s social care should always be on the side of the child and their best interests, not that of shareholders. Additionally, excessive debt held by providers creates a systemic risk of market failure particularly in a high-interest environment. Over-leveraged providers have the potential to endanger children’s placements, further emphasised by the inability of local authorities to intervene to run homes should a provider withdraw from the market, unlike in adult social care where this is the case. Contingency planning is critical for both provider and commissioner.

Additionally, local authorities should be empowered to open provision at the pact and scale required through nuanced policy adjustments and clarifications, particularly in housing planning laws. The UK Government should implement CMA advice to “introduce national guidance clarifying when planning permission may be required and the circumstances in which it is likely to be granted or refused”.[31] This will liberate local authorities by removing or mitigating the requirement to navigate the planning system and ensure suitable provision for those they are duty bound to support.

Further, as noted in the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Runaway and Missing Children and Adult’s ‘No Place at Home’ report, care-experienced children living in out of area placements are at particular risk of going missing. In the report, over 70% of police forces stated that placing children in out of area placements increases their risk of exploitation and often results in them being coerced into going missing. [32] NYAS strongly believes that no child is forced to live ‘out of area’ unless it is in their best interests. It is also essential that their wishes and feelings have been considered before this move occurs. Should they experience a missing episode, every child should be entitled to an independent return interview. This interview must be conducted by someone who is not employed by the local authority.

Reallocation of Spend Away from Early Intervention to Crisis

Problem

A shortage of suitable, high-quality provision forces local authorities to spend more on acute children’s social care to the detriment of other services that support, safeguard and empower children and young people.

Spending on non-acute services for children and young people such as youth work, teenage pregnancy services and activities for young people fell by 60.8% between 2009/10 and 2021/22. Spending on children under five, and preventative services such as Sure Start children’s centres, also fell by a record 73.4%.[33] This reallocation of spend due to ever increasing cost pressures has led to a 46% decrease in early intervention services over the last 12 years alongside an 81% increase into late-stage, crisis intervention services. [34] This counterintuitive strategy is not by choice; however, the very design of local authority budgets means that statutory child protection needs – which are becoming ever more complex – must be prioritized in order to meet their legal obligations to the detriment of early intervention and preventative programmes.

Data from the Local Government Association shows that for councils to deliver services at their current level, this will exceed their core funding by £2 billion in 2023/24.[35] This projected overspend does not include addressing the current underfunding of provision such as within children’s social care.

In November 2023, NYAS signed a letter alongside 28 other children’s charities urging the Chancellor to provide funding to children’s social care in the 2023 Autumn Statement.[36] The omission of children’s social care from the Autumn Statement presents another missed opportunity to address the crisis that is unfolding.

Ways to Mitigate

It is essential that central government commits to proactive investment into the children’s social care sector in real terms to mitigate this. Without this, more children will enter care and more families that could have stayed together with the right care will be separated. As one Campaigns Advisor said: “Why do you think we are passionate [about making changes to the care system]? Because of what we went through when we were younger. We desperately want to see these much-needed changes for young people now”. NYAS strongly supports the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care’s call for an additional investment of £2 billion into multidisiplinary Family Help to achieve this aim.

In Wales, NYAS Cymru provides vital support to care-experienced young mothers and expectant mothers through ‘Project Unity’ which aims to keep families together.[37] Funded by the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Social Services Third Sector Grant (SSG), Project Unity provides emotional and practical support, help in navigating complex child protection proceedings, and wraparound holistic and intensive support including emotional health, housing, financial management and domestic violence. Since April 2020, the project has supported 460 care-experienced young mothers, and 380 babies, across Wales. Project Unity acts as a success story for early intervention which keeps families together and breaks the cycle of children born to care-experienced parents themselves entering the care system. UK Government should learn from Welsh Government’s commitment to early intervention investment and the ability to delive this in partnership with third sector partners, as demonstrated through NYAS Cymru and the SSG.

4.       How effective has the government’s Stable Homes, Built on Love implementation strategy been so far? How effective is it projected to be in the long term?

The UK Government’s Stable Homes, Built on Love implementation strategy has not been effective so far. NYAS is concerned that it will not be effective long-term because the UK Government have largely opted for reforms prioritising optional guidance, not statutory duties.

Timescales: NYAS believes the absence of measurable and quantifiable objectives will make it difficult to work towards improving outcomes.

When dates are provided, they often do not align with government ambition. In paragraph 226, the UK Government committed to “narrow the gap in care leaver higher education participation rates compared to the general population year-on-year from 2027”. This is at odds with Mission 4, which states that “by 2027, we will see an improvement in the education, employment and training outcomes of children in care and care leavers”. As one NYAS Campaigns Advisor said, “by 2027, it will be too late for young people to see those changes in the care system”.

Advocacy: UK Government promised in February 2023 that they were “working with the sector to implement an opt-out model of independent advocacy” and committed to consulting on an opt-out model in the ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ implementation strategy.

NYAS was disappointed that the latest consultation did not include a proposal for an opt-out offer for independent advocacy in England. We believe this is a missed opportunity for the UK Government to deliver on their previous commitments made to children and young people. NYAS will continue to call for an opt-out model of independent advocacy in England to make sure all children and young people in care know their rights and have their voices heard.

Independent Visitors: The care review recommendation for local authorities to redesign their existing Independent Visitor schemes to allow for longer term relationships to be built is an opportunity for the UK Government to be more ambitious for care leavers.

NYAS believes that only a statutory duty on local authorities from UK Government will guarantee a consistent and long term offer of Independent Visitor support for children and young people. We therefore urged the UK Government to extend the statutory entitlement to Independent Visitor services up to the age of 25, in line with independent advocacy.

Although we welcome the UK Government’s commitment to “increase the accessibility and take-up of the Independent Visitors offer by working with the sector to reinforce current good practice and developing standards for Independent Visitor services”, we are disappointed that the statutory entitlement to Independent Visitors up to the age of 25 will not be taken forward. Equally, we are concerned that timelines for consultation on Independent Visitors are not ambitious enough.

Lack of clear plans to roll out pilot schemes nationally: Too many initiatives in the government’s plans are limited to pilot areas and will not be accessible to children and young people across the country. This includes the UK Government’s recent national kinship strategy, for which the government has confirmed it will provide an allowance to many kinship carers to match the allowance received by foster carers. Unfortunately, the allowance is only being trialled in up to 8 areas of the country.

While pilots can be vital to prove a concept, it is important that plans and funding are then available and in place as soon as a decision can be made to rollout successful schemes nationally.

“It’s better to do something than not to do something – then we have a foundation to work from. It might not be perfect but it’s a start and a step forward”, as one NYAS Campaigns Advisor says. “What the government don’t recognise [is that] these changes need to be happening now.”

January 2024

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