Extra 10,500 children could go into care in England, say leading children’s charities

An extra 10,500 children could go into care in England, costing £1bn more over ten years. That’s the conclusion of research exclusively shared with Channel 4 News by five leading children’s charities.

Action for Children, Barnardo’s, The Children’s Society, the NSPCC and the National Children’s Bureau commissioned Alma Economics to model the government’s response to last year’s Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, led by Josh MacAlister.

The research, shared with Channel 4 News, warns that the government is set to spend an additional £1 billion on children’s social care over 10 years as a result of not immediately implementing the review’s recommendations.

The Department for Education says it is “transforming the system to focus on more early support for families, reducing the need for crisis response at a later stage.”