The Cost Calculator is currently being implemented in 20 English local authorities. The software is purpose-designed to provide analyses of information to managers of children’s services about the services and their costs.

• Frontline managers (e.g. team managers of looked after and family placement teams), especially if they have devolved budgets, can use it to plan individual cases, and to argue for placement provision and support to match needs and improve outcomes
• Service managers, especially those who commission services, can use it to plan and deliver services better tailored to need and evaluated by outcome
• Finance staff can use it to refine their expenditure analyses to include the needs and outcomes of children, not just the costs of particular types of placement
• Directors of Children’s Services can use it to evaluate their services and make comparisons with other authorities and national norms