Member

The last issue may be a sticking point for the Government, but it need not be. Even if the money I mentioned is intended for elsewhere, in the long term there would be significant cost benefits to the Treasury if young people were allowed to stay in foster care beyond the age of 21. Both Ministers will be familiar with that argument, because it was set out in the widely respected Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, published three years ago, commonly referred to as the MacAlister report. That report quoted figures from 2020, which showed that the average cost of a residential care placement was £3,830 a week, annualised to £199,000. By contrast, an average foster care placement was costed at £71,000 per year, or just 35% of a residential care placement.