London Councils welcomes children in care white paper - but calls for greater support

London Councils has today welcomed the government's 'Care Matters: Time for Change' white paper as an 'important step' to improving the lives of the capital's children in care.

However, the organisation has also called on government to make supporting vulnerable families a clear priority to help avoid children being brought into care unnecessarily.

London Councils supports greater government priority on achieving better outcomes for children in care - particularly in the areas of health and education. It has also welcomed proposals for children to stay in care until they are 21, which responds to the wishes of many young people in care - and will provide them with a much stronger support network as they enter into young adulthood.

London Councils wants to work with the government on getting the implementation of these policies right - but warns that significant improvements such as these cannot be funded from within existing budgets.

Welcoming the white paper, London Councils Executive Member for Children and Young People James Kempton, said:

"All across London, councillors are working hard to improve the lives of all the capital's children in care. This paper is an important step to help us build on these efforts, and we look forward to discussing the proposals with government.

"We are especially keen on improving preventative services. Providing vulnerable families with targeted support to avoid children coming into care unnecessarily has to be a long-term aim of any shake up of the care system.

"London's councils deal with a higher proportion of children going into care than other regions and face far greater demand on social services than elsewhere. Yet for a whole host of reasons, London struggles to recruit and retain the social workers and foster carers we need. We will be working with the government on how to respond to these challenges.

"We also need the government to help us address the funding shortfalls faced by local authorities for young asylum seekers leaving care. Only through greater government support can we work together to improve the lives of all the capital's children in care."