Children England's submission to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee inquiry

We’re pleased that the Lords Economic Affairs Committee is investigating the funding of social care in England – however we note that the inquiry does not specify whether the scope is adult social care, children’s social care, or both. Whilst we very much hope it is both, we’re concerned that the funding crisis for children’s social care has received less parliamentary attention and therefore may not be within the scope of this inquiry.

In our submission we have addressed the first four questions of the inquiry, with reference to analysis already conducted by Children England and others. Whilst we have described conditions and possible solutions for children’s social care – and in some cases specific areas of children’s social care such as fostering and residential care – we believe many are relevant to adult social care too.

• What are the funding challenges for social care in England, and how can they be overcome?
• Why have successive governments been reluctant to address challenges in the delivery of social care?
• How can a sustainable funding model for social care supported by a diverse and stable market be created?
• How can the cost of the provision of social care be fairly distributed?

Children’s social care funding is challenged by both rising demand and highly pressured council budgets - especially in children’s social care - most of which are being overspent. Within and between these, there are several interacting factors.

Download our full submission as a PDF.