Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is he taking to support children in need.

The government continues to implement its reform programme as set out in ‘Putting Children First’ (2016), towards our aim that all children, no matter where they live, should have access to the same high quality care and support to meet their needs. This includes stronger initial training and clarity about the knowledge and skills social workers need in their jobs and creating an environment where innovation can flourish and frontline practice is driven by evidence. The government is also taking decisive action to improve services in inadequate local authorities through our interventions programme and by implementing a new Improvement Strategy for local authorities at risk of failing.

The government recently launched a review of Children in Need, publishing extensive data on the outcomes of this cohort and launching a call for evidence, which closed on 1 July 2018. Through the Children in Need review we are continuing to build our evidence base – both on the educational outcomes of Children in Need, and on what works to improve these outcomes. To do this, we are engaging with professionals and organisations who support Children in Need and with three What Works Centres – the Education Endowment Foundation, Early Intervention Foundation, and the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care.