Dawn Bowden MS, Minister for Children and Social Care
In March last year, we achieved a significant milestone as the Health and Social Care (Wales) Act 2025 received Royal Assent. The Act includes provision intended to prevent the extraction of profit by providers of children’s home, secure accommodation and fostering services. Since then, we’ve been working on implementation of the removing profit commitment – a public consultation on proposed regulatory changes and an approach to monitoring and enforcing provisions around unreasonable or disproportionate financial arrangements took place last summer, and the consultation response was published last month.
Today, I am pleased to launch a further consultation to support implementation of the removing profit commitments. This consultation concerns implementation of new duties on local authorities to prepare and publish an annual sufficiency plan setting out how they will meet their duty to secure appropriate accommodation for children looked after, in line with the removing profit provisions.
Annual sufficiency plans are intended to strengthen strategic planning and promote a more coherent, transparent and sustainable approach to meeting the needs of children and young people in care. Through this consultation, we are seeking views on the proposed approach to regulations that will set out the form, content and preparation of these plans. This includes proposals to introduce a consistent national template, to specify core information that plans should contain, and to establish clear processes for submission to and approval by Welsh Ministers.
Engagement and co‑production with local authorities and partners is central to this work. We have worked extensively with local government, including through the Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru and heads of children’s services, to develop the proposals set out in this consultation. Their early input has been invaluable, and I am committed to continuing this collaborative approach as we refine the regulations and prepare the supporting guidance and templates.
This consultation is an important opportunity for local authorities and other key stakeholders to help shape how these new duties are implemented in practice. The feedback we receive will play a crucial role in ensuring that annual sufficiency plans are proportionate, meaningful and effective in supporting better outcomes for children looked after.
The consultation is open for responses until 7 April 2026. I encourage all those with an interest in the future of children’s social care in Wales to engage with the consultation and share their views.