Work to eliminate profit from the care of looked-after children remains a commitment of the Welsh Local Government Association.

The association supports the Welsh Government’s vision and is working to expand in-house care provision to improve outcomes for vulnerable young people across Wales, despite significant challenges.

A WLGA report has said careful planning is needed to avoid destabilising the current system and the lives of the children and young people at the heart of it.

More than 80 per cent of children in residential care and 35 per cent in foster care in Wales are placed with private providers but if these do not move to the not-for-profit model, local authorities would need to increase their in-house provision by 324 per cent.

This comes at a time when there are already 7,210 looked-after children in Wales, and demand for services is rising alongside increasing complexity of cases.

Cllr Charlie McCoubrey, WLGA spokesperson for health and social services, said: “Expanding in-house services will take significant amounts of funding, and we welcome the Committee’s recommendation that the Welsh Government needs to commit to supporting this for at least the next five years.

"Without appropriate levels of funding, there’s a real risk of disrupting existing services and placements.