‘Massive’ cut in care population is key success measure for DfE reforms, says chief social worker

A ‘massive reduction’ in the care population, with many more children cared for at home or with extended family, will be the key measure of success for the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) social care reforms.

That was the message from the DfE’s chief social worker for children and families, Isabelle Trowler, in a session today at Social Work Week, the annual online event organised by Social Work England.

Trowler also said that she thought that the general election was unlikely to alter the trajectory of the DfE’s reforms to children’s services, as the needs of children and families, and the problems facing the sector, would not change with the advent of a new government.

Stable Homes, Built on Love strategy

She made the comments alongside DfE colleagues in a session on the department’s reform agenda, Stable Homes, Built on Love, launched last year.

The reforms are designed to significantly enhance early support to families in need, to enable more children to stay at home, while enabling family networks and kinship carers to care for more of those who cannot stay with their parents.

Other goals include significantly improving the quality of child protection practice, enhancing the commissioning of care placements, boosting support to early career social workers and setting rules to limit councils’ use of locum practitioners.

In the Social Work Week session’s question and answer section, a delegate asked what would show that the DfE’s reforms had been a success in 10 years time.

‘Massive reduction’ in care population is key objective

Trowler replied: “We [will] have a massive reduction in the number of looked-after children and children are living happily and safely with their birth parents and extended families and those families are well supported and the workforce is truly multidisciplinary, with truly expert knowledge and skill, and the child protection part of the system is razor sharp in identifying significant harm and acting upon it quickly.”

The care population in England rose for the 15th consecutive year in the 12 months to March 2023, to 83,840.

The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, on which much of the DfE’s reform agenda is based, predicted the care population would reach almost 100,000 by 2032, on current trends.

In its final report, the review, led by Josh MacAlister, predicted that full implementation of its measures, backed by £2.6bn over five years, would reduce the care population to about 70,000 by 2032.

However, the DfE has only committed £200m over two years so far while it tests its proposed reforms.

‘Reforms’ direction of travel will continue’ post-election – Trowler

Another delegate to the Social Work Week session asked what the impact of the general election, due by January next year, would be on the reform agenda.

“The children’s social care system won’t change, regardless of the outcome of any general election,” said Trowler. “The needs of the families have been pretty consistent over the 30 years I’ve been in the sector.

“And the problems we’ve got with things like placement sufficiency, that’s not going to change either. In general, the direction of travel is going to continue. Everyone involved in the sector wants to do the right thing by children and families.”

The Labour Party is strongly tipped by pollsters to form the next government and it is unclear what its election manifesto will pledge in relation to children’s social care.

Giving the party’s initial response to Stable Homes, Built on Love last year, shadow children’s minister Helen Hayes said it was “not the radical reset that the [MacAlister] review demanded and that we need”.

Specifically, she criticised the plan for lacking a “vision for the direction of children’s social care”, a workforce plan and action to tackle “profiteering” in the provision of care placements.