Introduction to Regional Care Cooperatives

In early 2024, Greater Manchester’s bid was selected to form one of two pathfinder areas for the Department for Education’s (DfE) Regional Care Cooperative (RCC) programme.

The GM RCC officially launches in April 2025, formed of 10 local authorities in Greater Manchester, and is hosted by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).

What is an RCC

RCC’s aim is to enhance regional commissioning and improve the delivery of care services for care-experienced children and young people through increased, coordinated local authority negotiation and buying power and an improved ability to better shape the market. Crucial to this will be the role of the RCC in developing an improved regional understanding of supply and demand to inform future forecasting of children's care placements.

This will lead to an increase in the right types of placements for looked-after children, placing children closer to home in a setting that better meets their needs, ultimately leading to improved outcomes for the child. Improved regional collaboration and a market that better reflects the needs of children should also deliver value for money for the local authority and prevent spiralling costs.