John Bald: I hope that the reshuffle will help to reverse the disastrous increase in the number of children in care

Improved educational provision is key. Increased use of boarding schools can offer a greater chance of stability.

Dave Evans: We need a Department for Social Care to give the issue the focus it needs

Children in care are denied the opportunities available to others. Levelling up must include transforming their life chances.

Roger Gough: The number of asylum-seeking children in Kent has forced us to threaten the Government with legal action

To what degree should any council, even one of the biggest in the country, shoulder the effects of what is a national and international issue?

Rehman Chishti: A staggering 180,000 people go missing each year, and the recovery must help them

The issue deeply affects hundreds of thousands of people a year, across every constituency, every local authority, every city and town.

Danny Kruger: Charities must be allowed to carry out their work. Our most vulnerable children need them.

A survey of the 400 plus Centre for Social Justice Alliance’s charities found that members felt undermined by statutory services.

The number of children in care has increased during the pandemic

Many face being trapped there, due to the bias against adoption. The Ministerial failure to tackle this has been woeful.

“The Chancellor has passed the responsibility to us. Can’t complain.” Council leaders respond to the Spending Review.

Some welcome the extra power to put up Council Tax. But they are reluctant to use it when their residents are already hard-pressed.

David Simmonds: Cutting early intervention in children’s services would cost more in the long term

The life-long human and financial costs associated with childhood trauma can be significant. We need a strong family foundation.

Michael Farmer: More children are being taken into care. All too often that means being put on a conveyer belt to crime.

If I had not been sent to a state boarding school and experienced stable relationships, I would likely have ended up in care myself.

The Conservative Manifesto includes a promise to back adoption. Will it be delivered on?

After this disruptive start in life, many young people drift into an adulthood of crime and prison.

David Simmonds: Standards for children in care are improving

Our task is to improve a system that is already very effective, albeit far from perfect.

The quiet progress of the Troubled Families programme

Fewer children are going into care. Crime is reduced. The taxpayer is saving money. The Government was right to defy the critics of this initiative.

Edward Davies: The next Conservative leader must make social justice their top priority

Government should be passionate about self-reliance, but we must also recognise the transformative power of an enabling state.

Nadhim Zahawi: How we can do more to support care leavers at university

Our new Covenant establishes a set of principles to guide private, public, and third-sector organisations who want to help.

The growing number of children in care is a national tragedy

Thousands more are spending Christmas denied the chance that adoption would offer them of a permanent, loving home.