Placement & Homes Strategy for Children and Young People 2026 to 2030

Every child deserves to feel safe, loved, and valued. Every young person has the right to grow up in a home where they are seen for who they are and supported to become who they want to be. As a council, and as corporate parents, this belief sits at the core of everything we do.

This strategy is our commitment to making that belief a reality. It is a blueprint for building a local care system that puts children first—one that offers stability, prioritises relationships, and enables young people to thrive in their communities. This strategy is informed by lived experience, by what our children have told us they need, and by what we know works best from research and good practice across the country.

We are proud of the progress we have made in recent years—expanding in-house homes, reducing unregulated placements, and investing in therapeutic approaches. But we are not complacent. There is still work to do. Far too many of our children are placed far from home, separated from their families, schools, and friends. Our aim is clear: to bring children closer to the people and places that matter most, and to offer care that is not just safe, but transformative.

This is an ambitious strategy, and rightly so. It will require determination, creativity, and partnership at every level. But we are ready. We are driven by the stories of our young people—their strength, resilience, and hopes for the future. This document reflects our promise to them: that we will always strive to do better, to listen harder, and to act faster in their best interests.

To our children and young people: your voice matters. Your experience shapes what we do. And your future is our shared responsibility.

Foreword by:

• Carl Jackson (Cabinet Member for Education and Children's Services)
• Sarah Ashmead (Corporate Director for Children's Services)
• Emma Kavanagh (Service Director for Children's Provider Services)