More children will grow up in stable, loving homes under a new national plan to deliver the most far‑reaching reforms to children’s social care and child protection in a generation.
The Implementation Plan for Children’s Social Care, published today, sets out how the government will roll out reforms contained in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 – landmark legislation designed to strengthen early intervention, protect vulnerable children and tackle long‑standing failures in the care system.
Branded ‘Delivering the Children’s Social Care Reset’, the plan moves the reforms from statute into delivery, outlining how councils, public bodies and frontline services will work together to support families earlier, improve safeguarding and ensure more children can grow up in safe, stable homes.
Children and Families Minister Josh MacAlister said:
“Bringing in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act was a major early priority for this government and it marks a historic moment for children’s social care and child protection in England.
“The Plan we’re publishing today sets out how we will now deliver that change – intervening earlier to support families, strengthening protection for vulnerable children, and ensuring more children can grow up in stable, loving homes.
“Through these reforms we are delivering what vulnerable children need, in partnership with committed frontline professionals, putting children’s safety and wellbeing and giving more young people the best possible start in life.”
What the reforms mean for councils and partners
The implementation plan confirms a significant shift towards early help, multi‑agency working and relationship‑based care, with clear expectations placed on local authorities and public services.
Key commitments include:
- A single Family Help service in every local authority, bringing together support and interventions to help families stay together wherever it is safe to do so.
- New multi‑agency child protection teams, integrating social workers with police, health and education professionals to strengthen safeguarding.
- Stronger support for kinship carers, with councils required to publish a local kinship offer aligned to new national standards — enabling more children to live with grandparents, aunts and uncles instead of entering care.
- Expanded foster care capacity, alongside the continued rollout of Regional Care Cooperatives to improve commissioning, placement planning and stability.
- Improved support for care leavers, including a new national Staying Close offer from 2029, providing help with housing, employment and healthcare up to age 25.
- New corporate parenting duties across public bodies, reinforcing a joined‑up public‑sector responsibility for children in care and care leavers.
Investment and market reform
Delivery will be backed by substantial new investment, including:
- £2.4 billion for the Families First Partnership Programme
- £245 million to implement legislative commitments and reform the care market
- £560 million in capital funding to expand and refurbish children’s homes
Regional Care Cooperatives will be scaled up further, supported by enhanced oversight of the children’s homes market. This includes a new provider oversight scheme and tighter regulation enabled through the Act.
Building on wider safeguarding reforms
The plan builds on the government’s Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive strategy and follows the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which strengthens protections against child sexual abuse and exploitation.
Alongside the government publication, Foundations, a children and families non‑profit, has released a new evidence‑based implementation framework to support councils and local partners in delivering reform consistently and effectively.
Focus on relationships, adoption and the workforce
A renewed emphasis on stable, lifelong relationships underpins the reforms, ahead of the launch of the Enduring Relationships Programme next month.
Adoption support remains central, with continued funding for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund, a consultation on its long‑term future, and a new universal parenting support offer from autumn 2026 to help families manage the transition to secondary school.
The Act also places a new legal duty on councils to promote sibling contact for children in care where it is in their best interests.
Workforce reform is another key pillar. Measures include improved training and professional standards for children’s homes staff, enhanced early‑career development for social workers, streamlined Ofsted registration processes, and tighter regulation of agency workers from 2028 to improve stability and continuity of care.
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