Delyth Jewell MS, Deputy Minister for Social Care, Mental Health and Women’s Health
I am pleased to update Members on the Welsh Government’s continued commitment to removing profit from the care of children who are looked-after, as we proceed with the next phase of implementing the Health and Social Care (Wales) Act 2025.
The care of children looked-after must be centred on their rights, wellbeing and needs. Public money invested in accommodation and care should support these aims and be reinvested in services rather than extracted as profit. This Government is committed to delivering these reforms at pace but in a considered, phased and managed way.
The first phase of restrictions came into force on 1 April 2026. These prohibit the registration of new for-profit restricted children’s services – children’s homes, secure accommodation and fostering services – with Care Inspectorate Wales (‘CIW’) and prevent existing for-profit providers from varying their registration to add new services or places. To complement this, a strengthened sufficiency duty on local authorities – to take all reasonable steps to secure suitable accommodation for children who are looked after, prioritising local authority and not-for-profit provision also came into effect at that time.
Aligned to this, I am today publishing a summary of responses to the recent consultation on proposals for the form and additional content of local authority sufficiency plans. Following analysis and consideration of the responses received, in the autumn term we will bring forward Regulations to prescribe this detail and publish non-statutory guidance to support local authorities in preparing their plans and, more widely, in meeting their enhanced sufficiency duty. Local authorities will submit their first draft plans to the Welsh Ministers by 1 December this year, with approved plans being published by 31 March 2027 and annually thereafter.
In the meantime, last week I launched the next 12-week consultation on proposals for regulations that will impose restrictions on any further expansion of existing for-profit restricted children’s services from 1 April 2027. The proposed restrictions mean existing for-profit children’s homes would not be able to add additional beds, and for-profit fostering services would not be able to approve new foster carers. Crucially, these measures will not affect existing placements or currently approved foster carers.
The consultation also seeks views on short-term, transitional arrangements to support continuity of pre-existing foster carer approvals where a for-profit fostering service re-establishes itself as a permitted not-for-profit entity (and registers this with CIW, under the new requirements of the Act). This will help avoid any disruption and limit unnecessary duplication where there is clear organisational continuity and all appropriate safeguards are in place.
Alongside these regulatory measures, financial support remains an important part of successful delivery. Alongside revenue funding to both local authorities and to Cwmpas to support implementation and advise existing providers capital support is also continuing through the Integration and Rebalancing Capital Fund. Projects supported through this fund are designed to help build capacity in public and not-for-profit provision and are wholly aligned with the objectives of the removing profit agenda.
In closing, I encourage all those with an interest in children’s social care to respond to the consultation before 23 September. Their views and practical experience will be essential in shaping the final provisions and ensuring progressive implementation of the Act is safe, proportionate and focused on improving outcomes for care-experienced children.
The Welsh Government will continue to work closely with all partners as we move through the next phase of implementation, with the aim of supporting a sustainable, high-quality children’s care system in Wales; where public investment is protected and preserved for the benefit of children and young people.