Care Leavers’ Association condemns NCERCC closure plans

The Care Leavers’ Association (CLA) has added its voice to the growing backlash against government plans to stop funding the National Centre for Excellence in Residential Child Care (NCERCC).

Earlier this month, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) announced it was withdrawing NCERCC’s funding.

Instead, private provider Tribal will run a new programme of “Support and Challenge for Children’s Homes”, because the DCSF says “more needs to be done to reform the sector”.

But Will McMahon, chair of the CLA, said private companies should not be allowed to profit from vulnerable people.

He added that the government failed to consult either service users or former service users on the changes.

“There is no sector where government’s penchant for outsourcing key services to private companies has proved to provide better service delivery for vulnerable populations — one only has to think of the elderly care sector to know that privatisation does not necessarily mean quality provision of care,” he said.

“On the other hand NCERCC has decades of experience in the field and the decision to stop funding that project seems perverse.”

CLA is now calling on government to consult key organisations and service users on any future support for the residential care sector. NCERCC is currently set to close in May.