Last week, the government released the Implementation Plan for Children’s Social Care. This document sets out how the government will deliver reforms introduced through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 across the country.

The act marks the most ambitious piece of child protection legislation in a generation. It introduces wide-ranging reforms to improve child safety and tackle long-standing challenges in the care system. The plan, Delivering the Children’s Social Care Reset, will help translate these reforms into action.

One of the key takeaways is that the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is now an Act of Parliament, with a range of transformation delivery programmes being rolled out nationally to reform how we support families.

Children’s Social Care Reform Timeline

The reform journey began in November 2024 when GOV.UK released the policy paper ‘Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive’, which set a clear vision for whole-system reform.

The Spending Review 2025 backed that vision with £555 million in transformation funding over two years and £523 million each year for three years to deliver the Families First Partnership Programme.

Now in May 2026, Parliament passed the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, which triggered phased implementation.

Strengthening Family Networks in Children’s Social Care

The reforms place family networks at the centre of decision-making. Practitioners will use Family Group Decision Making to involve relatives and wider networks directly in decisions about children’s care. Kinship Zones will support these networks and help reduce the number of children entering care. Virtual School Heads will champion outcomes for children in kinship care.

Investment in Fostering and Local Placements

The government has committed £88 million to the Renewing Fostering programme in a recent report by the Department for Education. This investment will increase the number of local authority foster placements and strengthen support and retention for foster carers.

The development of Regional Care Co-Operatives will improve how local areas plan, commission and deliver placements, giving authorities stronger control over sufficiency.

Ofsted Reform and Multi-Agency Safeguarding

The reforms will reshape how Ofsted conducts inspections, so they reflect the new system. New duties will require agencies to share information more effectively to strengthen child protection practice. These changes will drive closer collaboration across services.

Improving Support for Care Leavers

The reforms strengthen support for care leavers by introducing safeguards against homelessness and expanding Staying Close support. Changes to record retention will ensure consistent adoption records and protect adoptees’ lifelong right to access their family history.

Simplifying Statutory Guidance in Children’s Social Care

The next phase of reform focuses on updating and introducing statutory and non-statutory guidance. A single golden thread will run through all guidance, ensuring consistency across the system. The reforms will replace the current “Jenga block” of guidance with a simpler structure and clearer signposting, making it easier for practitioners to access and apply.

Children’s Social Care Reform Implementation Milestones

The government will now commence primary legislation under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026.

This year, implementation will introduce Family Group Decision Making, establish Regional Care Co-Operatives, strengthen information-sharing duties and expand the local offer for care leavers. The school census will also begin to capture kinship care.

In 2027, regulations will be developed setting out the support that new multi-agency child protection teams must provide.

In 2028, the system will introduce a Single Unique Identifier and roll out Staying Close support for care leavers. Staying Close is about providing an enhanced support package for young people leaving care from children’s homes, like Staying Put, which supports young people in foster care to remain with their former foster carers until age 21.

Next Steps

If you have any questions about Families First and social care solutions, email our dedicated inbox at: FamiliesFirst@systemc.com

Explore our collection of news and blogs to stay up to date with the latest developments across social care and education

Visit our Families First webpage to find out all you need to know.

The latest government guidance is now available. You can also read more from Community Care, which has provided an easy access, all-in-one-place guide to the reforms.