UK Children's Minister Eyes Danish Care Model to Fix Broken System
British children’s minister Josh MacAlister has visited Copenhagen to examine Denmark's renowned residential care model as England seeks to overhaul its struggling system.
At a glance
- Children's minister Josh MacAlister visited Denmark to study its highly regarded residential care system.
- England's children's home sector faces immense financial pressures, rising private profits, and hundreds of illegal homes.
- MacAlister expressed interest in adopting Danish practices such as extended support past age 18 and professionalised staffing.
England is looking for solutions to a deepening crisis in its residential care system, as children's minister Josh MacAlister recently travelled to Copenhagen to examine Denmark's celebrated approach to children's homes.
The British government is currently conducting a Department for Education review to reshape a domestic system plagued by soaring costs, private equity involvement, and hundreds of illegal, unregistered facilities.
Contrasting systems in England and Denmark
In England, overall spending on children's homes increased by 96 percent over five years, topping over 3.1bn pounds in 2023-24, with local authorities spending more than £125m on 669 unregistered and illegal homes last year alone. Privately run facilities account for 83 percent of places in England, with some providers enjoying profit margins exceeding 20 percent.
By contrast, Danish facilities such as the 140-year-old Josephine Schneider's House rely on extensive state funding and non-profit structures, where a third of homes are publicly owned and 42 percent are non-profit. Staff members are degree-level professionals trained in social pedagogy, focusing on child development, psychology, and therapeutic environments that mimic traditional family life.
Potential reforms under consideration
The visit highlights the government's recognition that minor adjustments will not suffice to fix England's care crisis. By examining the Danish model, British officials are weighing whether to alter structural pillars like age limits—abandoning the strict cut-off at 18 that forces care leavers into abrupt independence—and boosting local authority oversight to counter market-driven pressures.
However, transforming a system where private equity holds a dominant market share presents a starkly different challenge from Denmark's mature, state-backed framework, suggesting that any transition will require long-term investment and careful regulatory maneuvering.
What to watch: The Department for Education review led by Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang and upcoming decisions regarding private provider profit caps.
Reporting from: The Guardian. Spotted an error? Tell us.
- Josh MacAlister
- Department for Education
- children's social care
- Denmark
- social policy
- United Kingdom
- Politics