Make an Enquiry
Contact Us

Government urged to address shortfall in funding for children’s services

The Local Government Association has urged the government to address the £2 billion funding gap facing children’s services in the upcoming final Local Government Finance Settlement.

The LGA warns that a child was referred to children’s services every 49 seconds last year and councils are struggling to cope with the rising demand for support.

Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “We will always encourage people to refer any concerns about children to their local authority as soon as possible, so that the situation can be investigated and support or immediate protection put in place where necessary.

“But while these figures are encouraging as a reflection of heightened awareness and identification of child abuse, they also highlight the staggering scale of the pressures that have now been building on children’s services for a number of years.

“With councils now having a child referred to them every 49 seconds on a daily basis, it is vital that they have the resources necessary to provide an effective response,” he added.

There were 646,120 referrals made to children’s services during 2016/17. With 1,770 referrals being made every day, that is the equivalent of one every 49 seconds. More than 500 child protection investigations were also started on average each day in 2016/17, increasing from 200 a decade ago.

However, the LGA, which represents 370 councils across England and Wales, said children’s services face a £2 billion funding gap by 2020. Failure to close this gap will leave many children and families across the country, who desperately rely on these crucial services, at risk.

Cllr Watts added: “The government has been warned repeatedly that ongoing funding cuts, including the £2billion gap that councils face by 2020, have left them struggling to provide the support that vulnerable children and families need.

“The £2billion funding gap must be addressed in the final Local Government Finance Settlement to ensure the support that families need from council child protection services is there now and in years to come.

“Unless there is an injection of funding to support crucial early intervention, many more vulnerable children remain at risk,” he concluded.

Knowledge & Resources

Keep abreast of the latest news in the children's services sector.

A look back at 2022 with WillisPalmer's Head of Practice, Lucy Hopkins…

09/12/2022

2022 saw people trying to get back to some degree of normality following the Covid-19 lockdowns, restrictions and school closures that we had faced for the previous two years. However, the impact of Covid-19 continued and many services experienced, and continue to experience, backlogs and difficulties, including those services relating to children and families.

Social worker [...]
Read Full Story

John Lewis Christmas advert highlights important messages regarding foster care and looked after children

09/12/2022

Every year people are excited to see what the theme of the John Lewis & Partners Christmas advert will be. This year's advert reminded our Head of Practice, Lucy Hopkins, of all the times she arrived at the homes of foster carers with children or young people who were anxious, scared, worried and hungry, having just [...]

Read Full Story

The WillisPalmer Christmas Tree Decorating Competition 2022

09/12/2022
Who Wins..? You Decide!

We have two Christmas trees at the WillisPalmer office and this year the staff upstairs are going to compete with the staff downstairs to see who has the best decorated tree... and we want YOU to decide on the winner!

Tree 1 - Downstairs 

Tree [...]

Read Full Story

A Mackman Group collaboration - market research by Mackman Research | website design by Mackman

linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram