9 July 2026
The Government today confirmed our region will take on one of five new Regional Care Cooperatives in England, alongside £1.7m in support funding.
The new body will bring councils together to commission children’s care placements collectively, helping them stop competing against one another, tackle profiteering in the care market and keep more vulnerable children closer to home.
The announcement follows years of campaigning by Luke Myer MP. As Redcar & Cleveland’s Cabinet Member for Children, he called on the Government to implement the regional care model. After entering Parliament, he urged Tees Valley council leaders to work together on plans for a regional care co-operative, and later pressed the case directly with Children’s Minister Josh MacAlister in Parliament. Today’s announcement confirms the region has now been chosen.
Alongside the new £1.7m Regional Care Cooperative, ministers have also announced a wider package of support including a new £500k Fostering Hub for the North East, £960k to support a regional rollout of the Mockingbird foster support programme which has been piloted in Redcar & Cleveland, and an £800k ‘Room Makers’ Fund for the North East to help foster carers renovate spare rooms in order to foster more children.
Luke Myer MP said:
“I’ve seen first-hand the pressure this broken market places on councils and, more importantly, the impact it has on vulnerable children. Too often, councils have been forced to compete against one another while some private providers have made excessive profits from children who need care the most. Public money should be spent giving vulnerable children the best possible start in life, not extracting profits for overseas private-equity vultures.
“By working together across the region, councils will have far greater power to shape the care market, support more local foster carers, create more local provision and keep children closer to home.
“I’m delighted the Government has chosen the North East as one of the next Regional Care Cooperatives. Alongside new support for foster carers, investment in children with the most complex needs and stronger mental health support, this is an important opportunity to build a children’s care system that puts children before profits and gives every young person the stability and support they deserve.”
Cllr Bill Suthers, Cabinet Member for Children at Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, said:
“The market for children’s social care has been broken for far too long. It should never have been left to become a system where global investment funds can make excessive profits from caring for some of our most vulnerable children.
“The opportunity now is for local authorities across the North East to co-operate together instead of competing with one another, building the homes and fostering provision that children actually need. That’s good for children, good for councils and good for taxpayers.
“I’m particularly pleased that Redcar & Cleveland is playing a leading role in making this happen. Our Director of Children’s Services, Danielle Swainston, has been at the forefront of developing these proposals, and it’s a real credit to her and the whole team that our authority is helping to shape the future of children’s social care across the North East.”
Children and Families Minister Josh MacAlister said:
“Too many children in care have been let down – placed miles from home in expensive, unsuitable settings, some even locked away, while unscrupulous providers have extracted excessive profits from a system meant to protect them.
“We are expanding the new model of children’s care, which means better supported foster families, real control over the children’s care sector for local authorities and personalised support for the most vulnerable children. This is what a care system that puts children first looks like.”