The social pedagogy pilots are progressing well. All the children's homes have been recruited, including those homes which will not recruit pedagogues and will therefore provide a comparison. The final recruitment round for social pedagogues has also just finished. The pilots are providing some good examples of creative work with children and young people and learning is emerging about the importance of a shared daily life within the home and the opportunities which that offers for relationship building through group activities. The evaluation contract has been awarded to the Universities of Bristol and York and will report in 2012.
Children in care are funded by local authorities who are funded via the local government funding system. There is no formula that sets a national amount that should be spent on children's social care. The level of spending on children in care is decided by each local authority based on local circumstances and priorities.