Yesterday’s Spending Review announcements bring some encouraging news for children and families, with new commitments aimed at tackling long-standing issues in the system. Targeted investment in children’s social care represents a welcome effort to address deep-rooted challenges.

In particular, strengthening foster care provision is a crucial step forward, and recognition of the need to fix ‘the broken market’ that often puts financial interests ahead of children’s needs. New funding to help children remain safely with their families is also a positive move. However, it is essential that adopted children, and their families, are not left behind in this process and it is disappointing not to see any reference to adoption.

The extension of free school meals to a further 500,000 children will make a meaningful difference in reducing food insecurity among the most vulnerable. Continued support for the Family Hubs programme is promising too, pointing to a wider ambition to strengthen early help and preventative services.

The proposed SEND White Paper, expected in the Autumn, is a welcome step and provides a real opportunity for meaningful reform of the SEND system. We look forward to enabling the families we support to engage with any changes.

Ultimately, we welcome the government’s additional investment in children’s social care and hope this signals a genuine commitment to implementing the recommendations of the MacAlister Review (2022), turning long-standing promises into real and lasting reform.