Learning from the Pathfinders: Why Regions Should Consider Establishing a Regional Care Cooperative

The Regional Care Cooperative (RCC) Pathfinder Programme aims to address rising costs, placement shortages, and fragmented commissioning in children’s social care by bringing together groups of local authorities to collaborate regionally, shape the market, and improve outcomes for children and young people. This article shares insights from the South East and Greater Manchester RCC pathfinders, highlighting their shared vision, strategic ambitions, and the transformative potential of RCCs for other regions.

Why RCCs Matter

RCCs were first introduced as national policy in the Department for Education's (DfE) 2023 policy paper Stable Homes, Built on Love and reaffirmed in Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive (2024). They are designed to address systemic issues that undermine children’s social care:

• Escalating costs: Local authorities face unsustainable financial pressures, with children’s services often the largest area of overspend.

• Placement shortages: Many children are placed far from home or in unregistered settings due to a lack of availability of suitable local provision.

• Fragmented commissioning: Individual authorities lack the scale and leverage to shape the market or negotiate effectively.

• Workforce challenges: Recruitment and retention of foster carers and residential staff remain persistent issues.

  
  

RCCs offer a strategic solution enabling local authorities across a region to work together to shape the care they can provide for children locally.

Shared Vision and Values

Both RCC pathfinders are united by a child-centred vision and a commitment to collaboration.

The South East RCC articulates its vision directly to children: “We will provide the right care for you that is available locally and when needed. We will be loving, caring and consistent with high aspirations for you. We will listen to you, put your needs first and will not give up on you.” Its values include transparency, co-creation with young people, and a willingness to disrupt the market for better outcomes.

The Greater Manchester RCC aims to ensure that all children and young people looked after in the region have a stable, loving home, are healthy, and achieve positive outcomes. Its strategic priorities include strengthening governance, improving value for money, investing in regional provision, and supporting the children’s social care workforce.

What RCCs Are Trying to Achieve

Rather than simply meeting a checklist of requirements, both RCCs are pursuing a bold and integrated vision for system change. Their work can be grouped into five strategic pillars:

1. Building a Smarter, More Responsive System

Both RCCs are investing in regional data platforms to forecast demand, track sufficiency, and inform commissioning. Greater Manchester’s Data and Demand Forecasting Platform triangulates referrals, child needs, and placements to enable agile, needs-led commissioning.

The South East RCC is also creating a regional data platform. This will be used to develop a regional sufficiency statement and strategy, which will be refreshed annually to drive commissioning objectives and strategy.

These tools will help local authorities understand where and what types of care are needed, share insights with providers, and plan more effectively across the region.

2. Shaping a Fairer and More Effective Market

In some cases where they are able to act as a single regional customer on behalf of their local authorities, RCCs are positioned to better influence relationships with providers to improve transparency and value for money.

The South East RCC is bringing providers in the regional together to build an understanding of how providers and local authorities can develop mutually beneficial relationships. This approach will help to shape the market and build transparency over costs. The Greater Manchester RCC is expanding VCSE involvement through initiatives like the Fair Care Alliance and ethical acquisition frameworks.

Both RCCs aim to reduce short term reliance on high-cost placements and create a more balanced, responsive market.

3. Creating the Right Care in the Right Place

RCCs are investing in new regional homes and services tailored to local needs. Greater Manchester’s Project Skyline is developing new children’s homes, while Room Makers is funding foster home renovations to increase local capacity. The South East RCC is using DfE capital funding to create over 30 new beds and is exploring secure accommodation options.

They are also coordinating with partners in health and youth justice to commission placements for children with complex needs, including PACE beds, remand beds, and Tier 4 step-down provision.

4. Strengthening the Workforce and Practice

Both RCCs recognise that improving care quality depends on a skilled and sustainable workforce. The South East RCC is establishing a residential workforce academy and developing a regional practice model in partnership with the Staff College. Greater Manchester is running skills bootcamps, recruitment campaigns, and progression pathways for residential care staff.

Foster carer recruitment and retention are also central to the pathfinders. Greater Manchester’s Foster for GM Hub centralises recruitment and support, while the South East RCC is integrating its foster hub with the RCC to develop a joined up system.

5. Driving Collaboration and System Change

RCCs are embedding cross-sector collaboration with health, youth justice, and VCSE partners to deliver joined-up services and shared investment. Governance models are being established to support swift decision-making and long-term planning, with clear accountability and shared ownership across the region.

The voice of children and young people are central to both RCCs. Co-design processes, youth engagement strategies, and governance roles for care-experienced young people ensure that services reflect lived experience and respond to real needs.

The South East are pursuing incorporation as an independent social enterprise to ensure sustainability and autonomy and the RCC is planning to launch before the end of 2025. The Greater Manchester RCC launched in April 2025 as a hosted service within the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, however, the team are exploring their options with alternative delivery models for the future.

If you would like more information on the ambition for the RCC pathfinders, please see this webinar with Lucy Butler, Director of the South East RCC, and Colette Dutton, Director of Children's Services in Wigan and lead for the Greater Manchester RCC.

Why Other Regions Should Act Now

The current system is unsustainable. Robust regional arrangements such as RCCs offer a practical and scalable solution that can be used to address local challenges in  children’s social care. The South East and Greater Manchester pathfinders have laid the groundwork for other regions to build on their learning and momentum.

By working collectively, local authorities across a region can achieve more than any single authority could alone: better outcomes for children, better value for money, and a more resilient care system.

Access the Full Report and Get Involved

Mutual Ventures have produced a new report that brings together insights from across the programme including learning from the pathfinders.

This report is intended for regions that are planning to or are currently delivering regional commissioning arrangements and are considering establishing an RCC. It offers guidance on the steps required to set up an RCC and serves as a practical 'how to' guide.

For access to the learning report as well as other content from the learning programme including webinars please see here.

For more information on the programme or to discuss how your region might begin its RCC journey, please contact MV Senior Consultant Luke Bevir at luke.bevir@mutualventures.co.uk