CHA calls for review of Welsh care reform timetable and takes concerns to Plaid Cymru conference

The Children’s Homes Association has responded to the Welsh Government’s consultation on moving children’s social care to a not-for-profit model, calling for a review of the timetable and requesting a pause so that the availability of sufficient suitable homes can be demonstrated.
 

CHA's CEO Dr Mark Kerr and Teri Short, Membership and Engagement Officer, are taking these concerns to Plaid Cymru’s Annual Conference today, joined by CHA Welsh Regional Lead, Darryl Williams, Director of Woodlands. They are representing members and making the case to Members of the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, for an approach that protects children’s access to safe, appropriate care.

CHA’s consultation response proposes 2035 as a more credible planning horizon for residential reform, supported by annual published milestones and evidence-based checks.
 

Children’s needs must be the priority.

The new legislation means children’s homes that do not become charities by 2030 will be eliminated. This means 85% of homes will no longer exist. The Welsh government has no plan on where the children will go.

CHA warns that restricting established homes’ ability to respond to changing demand could leave children with fewer suitable placement options. The Association says the Welsh Government’s own programme risk registers have repeatedly identified risks relating to placement instability, insufficient suitable provision and increased use of unregistered settings.

In its response, submitted by Dr Mark Kerr, Chief Executive, CHA states:

“Children and families bear the most important non-financial consequences where implementation results in fewer suitable placements, greater distances from home, inappropriate matching or instability.”

The response stresses that a vacant bed is not necessarily a suitable home for a particular child. Suitability depends on location, staff skills, specialist support, the other children living in the home and whether the service can safely meet that child’s needs.

Read the full consultation here: Response to The Welsh Government's consultation on moving children's social care to a non-profit model

CHA is calling on the Welsh Government to:

• pause further restrictions on residential capacity until sufficient suitable alternative provision can be demonstrated;
• review the residential reform timetable, with 2035 as a more credible planning horizon, supported by annual published milestones and evidence-based checks;
• publish a fully costed national plan showing how replacement homes will be financed, staffed and delivered;
• resolve the practical barriers facing providers moving to permitted not-for-profit structures, including refinancing, property transfers and workforce arrangements;
• protect children’s access to local, specialist and Welsh-language care throughout the transition.