Government announces £547 million boost for children’s social care reform

The government has announced an additional £547 million to support reforms to children’s social care over the next three years. The investment forms part of an expansion of the Families First Partnership (FFP) programme and brings total funding for reform to around £2.4 billion between 2026 and 2029.

The funding will support the national roll-out of:

• Family-help services, aimed at providing earlier support for families with multiple or complex needs.
• Multi-agency child protection teams, bringing professionals together from social care, health and education.
• Family group decision-making, giving extended families a greater role in safeguarding discussions, particularly before court proceedings.

The reforms aim to reduce crisis intervention and increase preventative support, following long-standing pressures on children’s services. Demand for support has continued to rise nationally, while many local authorities have struggled with increasing costs linked to social care.

Roll-out of the expanded programme is expected to begin within the next 12–18 months, with local authorities implementing new structures and scaling up family-help services.