Agreement with Medway Council and provision of children's services

WQ.45/2026

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

BY DEPUTY J. RENOUF OF ST. BRELADE

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 16th FEBRUARY 2026 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 23rd FEBRUARY 2026

Question

"Will the Minister provide Members with details of the agreement with Medway Council regarding the provision of children's services and will he further advise –

1. how many placements for children have been provided by Medway, either via the Local Council or privately;
2. the nature of any such placements;
3. how many children have been impacted; and
4. the total annual expenditure that has been spent on services provided by Medway?"

Answer

The agreement with Medway Council provides placement search and quality assurance capability for the procurement and oversight of all off island placements. The agreement enables Jersey to benefit from Medway's commissioning frameworks, providing access to thousands of placements across the UK, strengthening choice and matching for children and improving Jersey's market negotiation capacity. The agreement also includes provision of quality assurance oversight of procured arrangements by the Medway Commissioning team, which ensures all placements are good quality, good value, stable and effective in meeting the needs of the child. Medway's placement quality assurance framework is recognised as good practice by the UK.

1. how many placements for children have been provided by Medway, either via the Local Council or privately;

Medway have not provided any placements for Jersey's children. Medway's role is to provide a placement search function to enable access to placement frameworks across the UK and to negotiate and oversee such contracts to ensure quality and value for money.

From June 2025 to February 2026 Medway have conducted 27,963 searches across UK commissioning frameworks. This has led to arrangements being set up in respect of 18 contracts, some involving more than one placement or contract for a child or young person due to moves or other needs.

2. the nature of any such placements;

Medway's agreement includes placement search capacity across a number of commissioning frameworks to identify placement matching options for children. This has included independent foster homes, residential homes, specialist residential providers and supported accommodators for young people leaving care. It also includes parent and child residential assessment units, commissioned for the purposes of public law proceedings, education provision and CQC registered arrangements for young adults who need to live independently.

3. how many children have been impacted;

13 children have benefited from the procurement, commissioning and quality assurance work undertaken by Medway.

4. The total annual expenditure that has been spent on services provided by Medway?

The contractual cost of the agreement in place with Medway is £70,242. This has already been substantially offset by cost reductions created through Medway's renegotiation of contracts and strengthened commissioning capacity leading to better value for money, or improved offers.