Dheeraj Chibber, chair of the health, care & commissioning policy network at the ADCS, commented:

"Today's report reflects the reality of the placement market and the situations directors of children's services, and the children in our care, find ourselves in. A rise of more than 370% in unregistered placements, with spiralling costs, is not a failure of individual decision-making, but is what happens when a secure supply of regulated placements has not been established to meet the needs of the most vulnerable children in our care.

"ADCS has long called for a national placements strategy that takes sufficiency seriously, so we have the right placements, in the right places, at the right time, backed by genuine investment in not-for-profit, locally led provision. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill offers an important opportunity to rebalance a market that has for too long allowed too many providers to put profit before care. The report compounds how urgent this issue is, children at the centre of the report cannot wait."

ENDS

The Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) Ltd is the professional leadership association for Directors of Children's Services and their senior management teams in England.