Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the care and support needs of their local population. That is why, under the Care Act, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market and deliver a range of high quality, sustainable, person-centred care and support services to meet diverse local needs. The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work closely to support the Care Quality Commission (CQC) with its new responsibilities under the Health and Care Act 2022 to give a meaningful and independent assessment of care in a local area. CQC is currently developing their approach to assess integrated care systems and local authorities with a view to understand how care in a local area is improving outcomes for people and reducing inequalities in their access to care, their experiences, and outcomes from care. There are many different types of providers who operate in this sector, playing a vital role in providing homes for children in care. To ensure the resilience of both independent fostering agencies and children’s homes providers, the Department for Education is working to develop plans for a financial oversight regime. This will allow for greater financial transparency across the sector, for example of ownership, debt structures and profit making preventing sudden market exit, and ensuring that children continue to receive the care that they need. The Department for Education has also committed to seeking to rebalance the market through supporting Local Authorities to expand their provision through £259 million of capital funding over the next parliament, which will reduce reliance on the private sector without reducing the number of placements. The Department for Education will make an assessment, with colleagues across Government and the sector, on what impact changes in the strategy have on the capacity in the market and the cost of placements to inform future policy.