Placements Standards Working Group - Meeting 3 - 5th November 2025

[ivjyot-oberoi]

Social Care Placement Working Group - Session 3 Summary

Date: 5th November
Time: 2:30 - 4:00 PM GMT
Location: MS Teams

Session Slides: Slides working group 3.pdf

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Programme Overview and Objectives

• Social Finance recapped the project. They outlined the three-year partnership with Quorum, Open Data Institute, and DfE to develop data and technological standards for children's social care, focusing this working group on improving data analysis and strategic decision-making in the placement market, with participants from a wide range of sectors contributing.
• Programme Scope: Ivjyot explained that the programme aims to improve data sharing to support safeguarding decisions, enhance productivity for social workers, and increase power sharing with children and families, with this working group specifically focusing on improving sufficiency analysis and strategic decision-making in the children's social care market.
• Timeline and Collaboration: The first year is dedicated to establishing foundational standards, demonstrating benefits, and building a network of collaborators, with the intention to release a suite of standards over the next two to two and a half years, based on input from the working group and prioritised use cases.

Design Decisions on Placement Cost Data

• Maddy led a detailed discussion on how to capture placement cost data, resolving to use a total weekly fee approach inspired by the Placements Northwest model, while keeping open questions for further refinement.
• Participants discussed the difficulty of accurately capturing placement costs, particularly the variability in definitions of 'core' and 'total' fees across local authorities and the timing of data collection, with consensus that a single total weekly fee is more feasible than attempting to split costs.
• The group agreed to use the Placements Northwest data return model, which defines placement cost as a total weekly fee, gathered at a suitable point in time (not necessarily at placement agreement), and to keep the frequency of data collection flexible for local authorities.
  -It was agreed to keep the question of cost breakdowns open, with the intention to revisit if a reliable method for distinguishing core and total fees is developed, and to potentially conduct a study with a local authority to understand cost variability over time.

Design Decisions on Placement Location Data:

• Ivjyot discussed approaches to capturing preferred placement location, deciding on an interim Excel-based lookup solution while keeping the issue open for further refinement based on pilot data and regional feedback.
• Ivjyot explained that the initial solution for capturing preferred location in free text field was dropped due to risks of inconsistency, incomplete data, and excessive administrative burden, especially in complex urban areas like London.
• An Excel lookup with predefined region or location names was proposed as a practical interim measure, allowing users to select from a list to improve consistency while retaining some flexibility.
• The group agreed to keep the location field as an open issue, planning to review pilot data from the Southwest and conduct further discussions, particularly with urban regions, to refine the approach and ensure analytical usefulness.
• Additional fields, such as whether the child was placed in their preferred location and whether education was disrupted, were added to provide context and support meaningful analysis, with ongoing debate about the ultimate purpose and interpretation of the data.

Implementation Planning and Working Group Role

• Madeline outlined the transition to the implementation phase, proposing a shift to quarterly working group meetings for ongoing review, and described the support structures and requirements for local authorities and regions.
• The working group will move from frequent design sessions to a lighter-touch oversight role, meeting quarterly to review pilot outcomes, address open design questions, and oversee the implementation of the standard in new regions.
• The programme seeks two additional regions (flexibly defined) to pilot the standard, with support focusing on embedding the standard in existing systems and coordinating regional implementation, based on lessons learned from the Southwest pilot.
• Successful implementation requires strong sponsorship from Directors of Children's Services, an accountable operational lead, and potentially business support for system changes, with ongoing data entry and QA expected to be minimal per placement.
• Future Governance and DfE Involvement: Group discussed the need for DfE input on long-term plans, including potential statutory guidance or legislation, and the importance of sector-led awareness raising and communication, with suggestions for engaging broader audiences such as the LGA.
• An attendee highlighted that factors such as provider relationships, risk, historical experiences, and policy changes significantly affect placement costs and sufficiency, and these are not fully captured by quantitative data standards.
• Madeline agreed that data standardisation is only one lever for improvement and that outputs must be contextualised within the broader realities of the sector, with ongoing attention to the limitations and appropriate use of the data collected.