Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of social outcomes contracts in supporting looked-after children.

A number of local authorities have used social impact bonds (SIBs) to try to secure improved outcomes for children and young people in the children’s social care system. A research report published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport provides an overview of seven projects and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-chances-fund-social-impact-bonds-in-childrens-social-care.

In addition, in 2018, as part of the government’s commitment to supporting care leavers to make the transition from being looked after to independence, the Department for Education funded three payment by results projects, to assess whether SIBs can help local authorities to improve education, employment and training outcomes for care leavers. Projects were established in three areas: Apollo (Sheffield), Aspire (South East London) and Reboot West (West of England) and started operating in October 2018. Ecorys UK were appointed in December 2018 to undertake an evaluation to assess the effectiveness, impact and value for money of the three projects. The evaluation is ongoing and is currently scheduled for completion in March 2022. The final report will be published in due course.