Last year an influential report from Newton and the County Councils' Network proposed an optimised model of local delivery for children in care and on the edges of care.

The ambition of that model is to keep children in their family and community network where it is safe to do so. According to the report, without changes to the system, projected expenditure on children in care is set to be £2.1bn higher in 2025 compared to 2020. By 2020 there were 80,080 children in care, and analysis conducted through the report's work programme forecasts this could increase to between 86,000 and 95,000 by 2025.