Agenda item

At the request of members, this briefing sets out the issues relating to placement sufficiency for Children in our Care, and the plans to address these through the work of the Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Children’s Services Sufficiency Programme which launched in 2024.

The Assistant Director for Children and Young People Services introduced the report to the Panel and highlighted the following areas.

·  228 Children in Care

·  Three children are currently in residential care as a result of there being no suitable, available foster placements. The Alternative Care team continue to actively search for a suitable foster carer for these children and remains a key priority for the team.

·  The Sufficiency Programme Board was established in Quarter 3 of 2025/26 to provide governance in addressing four key areas of sufficiency in children’s services: fostering, residential children’s homes, provision for disabled children and accommodation for young people aged over years.

Fostering

·  The project aims to review the existing cohort of children and young people in foster care to understand their needs and their reasons for being in foster care. It will also review existing foster care provision, including geographical location, costs, accessibility, needs it can meet, capacity and availability of carers. Finally, it will look at the current offer to foster carers, how this offer compares across our neighbouring authorities and how this could be maximised to improve recruitment and retention.

·  The project will use this analysis to forecast needs for foster care in the future, and will support, if indicated, the delivery of a business case to further support the recruitment of in-house foster carers for looked after children in B&NES. It will also develop a policy, process and business case for housing alterations for foster carers, to increase the number of children and young people they can support.

Residential Children’s Home

·  This workstream aims to review the existing cohort of children and young people in residential care to understand their needs and their reasons for being in residential care. It will also review the existing residential care provision, including geographical location, costs, accessibility, needs it can meet, capacity and available free capacity.

·  The workstream will use this analysis to forecast projected needs for residential care, and will support, if indicated, the delivery of a business case to develop and deliver in-house residential capacity for children in care in B&NES.

Resources for disabled children

·  This workstream focuses on ensuring that disabled children and their families have access to appropriate, high?quality short breaks and direct payment support. Local authorities have a statutory duty under the Children Act 1989 and the Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations (2011) to provide a sufficient short breaks offer for eligible families. A strategic needs assessment will be completed over the next six weeks to set out the current position in B&NES and identify future requirements.

16+ support and care leavers accommodation

·  This workstream aims to review the existing cohort of children and young people aged 16 years plus, to understand their needs and equalities profile. It will also review 16+ accommodation provision, including geographical location, costs, accessibility, needs it can meet, capacity and available spaces. The workstream will consider improvements in recruitment and retention of supported lodgings carers. Finally, it will look at the current accommodation offer to young people who are care experienced, working closely with colleagues in Housing.

B&NES is generally providing good-quality care for its looked-after children. Oftsed (June 2025) rated services “Good” across all domains, confirming safe, suitable placements and timely permanence planning. However, the overall cohort continues to grow, with the number of children in care increasing at a slightly faster rate than that of our statistical neighbours. Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) make up 10% of the cohort, rising to one third of all care leavers in the post-16 cohort.

There is a strong focus on supporting children in care to return to live with their families when it is safe and appropriate to do so. This process, known as reunification, involves carefully assessing whether a child can move back home and ensuring the right support is in place for both the child and their family. B&NES has an established Reunification Framework, based on National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) guidance.

The Government has set out a national ambition to create 10,000 additional foster homes over the next decade. This is intended to reduce reliance on residential care, improve outcomes for children, and stabilise local authority budgets. The plan forms part of a wider programme of reform to modernise fostering services. As part of this, the government are advocating for a regional delivery model which will provide a shift towards regional delivery of fostering recruitment and assessment.

Regionalisation is part of a longer?term shift toward creating Regional Care Cooperatives (RCCs), with the new end?to?end fostering hubs acting as an interim step. While current hubs focus mainly on early recruitment, RCCs will ultimately plan, commission, and deliver a full range of children’s care services, including fostering, residential, and secure care, on behalf of all local authorities in a region. Their purpose is to reduce competition between councils, stabilise the care market, and secure better value for money.

Councillor Paul Crossley asked what work is carried out prior to children returning to their homes following incidents of domestic violence.

The Assistant Director for Children and Young People Services replied that robust tools are used to analyse the level of risk and whether there has been a change in home circumstances / dynamics. She added that risks are assessed on an individual basis and that children would normally return under a care order and retain the support identified within that.

Councillor Crossley asked if the decision is made to develop and operate an in-house children’s home that it addresses the specific needs of BANES young people.

Councillor Wright added that it be worth this issue being discussed at a meeting of the Corporate Parenting Group.

The Director of Children’s Services & Education replied that the intention is for this matter to be discussed further at a future meeting of the Corporate Parenting Group.

The Panel RESOLVED to note the work of the Sufficiency Programme Board.