This case study describes how Solihull's high unit costs for placements for children in care were reduced; increasing resources available to improve the quality of care and delivering outcomes that better met the needs of children. It sets out the steps that Solihull took to address the situation and achieve 11% savings on the placements budget. These improvements were achieved through a combination of developing the authority's foster care service, redefining the commissioning and contracting team into a professional procurement service, and improving management of the external market.
