Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reform children's care services to improve outcomes for (a) children in care and (b) care leavers.

Reforming children’s social care is critical to deliver the government’s Opportunity Mission, to ensure that no child or young person’s background limits their ambition or life chances.

The department recognises that children in care and care leavers have poorer outcomes than their peers across all aspects of their lives, and wants all those who are in care or leaving care to have stable homes, access to health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships, and help to engage in education, employment and training.

In the King’s Speech, the government committed to introduce a Children’s Wellbeing Bill, which will allow the government to take forward the legislative changes needed to improve the children’s social care system for children in care and care leavers, including through a clearer focus on improving the support provided by government departments and relevant public bodies.