Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, responding to the Government’s announcement of an independent review into the children’s social care system, said:
“I have been calling for a widescale review of children’s social care for a long time and I am pleased this will now begin. I welcome the appointment of Josh MacAlister.
“This is a once in a generation opportunity for a bold and ambitious assessment of how to fix the many broken parts of the children’s social care system and it must be a driver for change.
“It must put children’s voices at its heart. I hear from children all the time who are being pushed around the system – forced to move foster home or change school at short notice and against their wishes, and often many miles away from family and friends. I hear from older children in care who are being placed in dangerous, unregulated accommodation where they are at risk of exploitation.
“The system needs urgent reform and this review must not tinker around the edges or be simply a set of recommendations that are not then acted upon. It must lead to real, meaningful change for children in care and those on the edge of it, and to the state becoming a better parent to all of the vulnerable children it has a duty to look after.”