General Election 2024: Key manifesto pledges for children’s social care

Two years on the from the publication of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, a handful of pilot programmes have been launched with no further steps announced.

According to a Local Government Association white paper pressure on children’s services is a key driver behind a £6.2bn funding gap facing councils over the next two years.

Meanwhile, children and young people have “begged the next government to improve children's services”.

CYP Now examines key manifesto pledges linked to children’s social care and what these could mean for the sector.

Conservative Party

• "Improve the experiences of children in social care" by creating more places in children's homes.

• Prioritise keeping families together through a kinship care strategy.

• Support care leavers with mentorship, housing, education and employment.

• Move to a household rather than individual basis for Child Benefit.

Labour Party

• Work with local government to support children in care, including through kinship, foster care, and adoption, as well as strengthening regulation of the children’s social care sector.

• Improve data sharing across services, with a single unique identifier, to better support children and families" and review the parental leave system so that it works for working families.

Liberal Democrats

• Establish a cross-party commission to forge a long-term agreement on sustainable funding for social care.

• Create a social care workforce plan as a backing for the proposals they have to reform children's social care.

• Introduce a young carers pupil premium as part of an "education guarantee" for young carers,

• Make caring and care-experience protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

• Support children in kinship care by introducing a statutory definition of kinship care and building on the existing pilot to develop a weekly allowance for all kinship carers.