Government says wide-ranging reforms will end ‘neglect’ in system that leaves young people behind

• Labour ready to show it is serious about changing children’s social care

Excessive profiteering by unscrupulous private companies charging sky-high fees for substandard placements for vulnerable children will be clamped down on as part of a major overhaul of children’s social care in England.

The government will on Monday outline a wide-ranging package of changes, which it promises will end years of “drift and neglect” in the children’s social care system, and introduce a new emphasis on early intervention.