The creation of the network of What Works Centres in the UK reflects a belief that the provision of high-quality evidence can improve public policy decisions. The literature on evidence based policy shows that rational, technocratic models belie the complex and contested nature of the policy process and cautions against narrow definitions of evidence. There are wide variations between the What Works Centres in terms of resources available to them, the evidence standards they use, the audiences they address and the approaches they use to transmit evidence. Tracking their development and their impact over time should, therefore, provide valuable evidence about 'what works' in evidence based policy and practice. In particular it may shed further light on what counts are as 'robust ' and 'useful' evidence and what is the most effective means of mobilising research based knowledge, and enhance our understanding of the contribution that social science can make to evidence-based policy and practice.

On 31st March 2018, there were 6,405 children looked after in Wales, almost 1,900 more children than were looked after in 2006. Over that time Wales has consistently had more children looked after per 10,000 of the population than the rest of the UK, and that gap has widened. Within Wales, while most Local Authorities have seen a rise in both the number and rate of children looked after, there is significant variation; and some have seen the rate of children looked after fall since 2014. Using published data, this report explores what we can say about the factors that are driving these trends. The following infographics drawing on our data analysis show the kinds of placements children in Wales are in and where they’re placed.

Wales has seen a rise in both the number and rate of children looked after. The rate is now higher than any time since the 1980s. In addition, Wales has consistently had more children looked after per 10,000 of the population than the rest of the UK. This trend is a cause for concern; particularly the impact on the outcomes of children who are taken into care in terms of educational attainment, health, unemployment, homelessness, and criminal justice. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to have worsened the situation. To understand better the factors influencing care rates, the Welsh Government commissioned the Wales Centre for Public Policy and the Centre for Children’s Social Care Research and Development (CASCADE) at Cardiff University to undertake a survey with the children’s social care (CSC) workforce.

Building on our work to increase the impact of the What Works network across the UK, the Wales Centre for Public Policy won funding from the ESRC to work with Professor Jonathan Sharples at EEF and other What Works Centres to apply the latest thinking and evidence on implementation – how evidence is used in decision making – to the What Works network. What Works Centres face similar challenges on implementation, and the principles, evidence and strategies that underpin effective implementation are often transferrable across different fields. The project looked at developing a common infrastructure for implementation across the network, including shared language, models, guidance, tools and capacity.