Social care has undergone significant transformation throughout the last two years, with more anticipated. Marked by ambitious reforms this is alongside ongoing challenges in an essential but often misunderstood and undervalued sector.
At the recent National Children and Adult Services conference, leaders stressed the urgency of taking action to safeguard and permanently reset social care in England. So what are the key developments and challenges to come?
DfE guidance on children's agency usage and wider social care expansion
On 1 October the Department for Education's (DfE) statutory guidance reached its full implementation deadline. All agency placements for children's and family social worker roles across local authorities are now expected to comply. The aim is to align and ensure all types of agency placements meet the same guidance.
As councils are at different stages of compliance, regional collaboration and sharing of best practice is crucial. While successes have been seen in strengthening permanent workforces, questions remain about how the guidance will operate during periods of high demand, particularly in rural areas.
For me collaboration and transparency is key. Commercial Services Group's highly successful joint venture (JV) agencies support our partner councils with horizon scanning and strategic guidance. We invest in worker and supply chain communications and provide our partners with dedicated social work expertise to navigate the challenges being faced.
New pay caps announced in August are broadly consistent with existing Memorandum of Understandings (MOU). There is time for authorities to address regional pay disparities ahead of a potential review in April 2026. Consistent terms and conditions for agency workers delivered through our JV's simplifies this process for our partners.
If passed, the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act, expected by spring 2026, will give the Government greater market transparency, helping improve consistency across social care aiming to reduce profiteering. However uncertainty persists about the wider reach of these reforms, therefore councils need agencies that can provide confidence in their adherence to the latest guidance monitoring DfE notices.
FFP programme reform
The Families First for Children (FFC) Pathfinder concluded on 31 March. Just days earlier, the national Families First Partnership (FFP) guidance was published, marking a shift to a full national reform programme supported with new £500m ring-fenced prevention grant. This funding is designed to help local authorities implement family help, multi-agency child protection teams and more consistent family group decision making.
The evaluation report in July highlighted that a ‘system-wide, families-first culture' is achievable, integrating early help and child-in-need responses. With national rollout, all local authorities in England are expected to comply by March 2026. This is a complex area and our dedicated qualified social workers resource for our joint venture partners supports them and social workers with changes.
Replacement of ASYE and withdrawal of the Early Career Framework
In March 2025, the DfE published a consultation on Post-Qualifying Standards and Induction for Children and Family Social Workers, proposing a two-year Social Work Induction Programme (SWIP) to replace the current one-year Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) with previous plans for ASYE extension dropped.
While SWIP is now the proposed replacement, its implementation depends on sufficient funding, not expected until the next Spending Review period of 2026-29; in the meantime provisional timelines and funding remain indicative. This lack of clarity makes workforce planning a challenge.
Our partners have access to dedicated team members, who work to ensure awareness and provide guidance for career paths for post-qualification social workers.
Looking ahead: preparing for 2026
The year 2026 promises to be a pivotal year for social care reform. The pace of change will accelerate towards a full national rollout. We can expect potential new powers regulating children's agency usage, alongside clarity on the new induction programme that will shape the next generation of social workers.
Local authorities will need to work hard to ensure these reforms deliver consistent support across communities. Regional collaboration, guided by transparent and actionable data will be critical to reduce profiteering and allow council budgets to stretch. Alternative operational models such as an insourced joint venture keeps more money in the public purse through cost savings, direct fill and providing surpluses back to partners. More than ever, local authorities will need the insight and expertise of social care specialists to navigate these changes effectively.
Our wish for 2026 is that it is the year of a more resilient social care system that genuinely puts families and communities first.
Cieran Donnelly is head of qualified social care at Commercial Services Group
