Rising demand for children's social care over the last decade, combined with significant budget cuts, has created a perfect storm for councils.

In Liverpool, we've seen the number of looked-after young people increase from 850 to 1,300 over the last decade. When I arrived as director in 2017, it was clear to me from speaking to frontline staff that they were under real pressure and it was demoralising and exhausting. An Ofsted inspection last year confirmed what we already knew – we had made improvements but needed to get caseloads down if we were to make sustained progress.