New analysis by national children’s charities on...

26 Feb 2019 in Funding > General Funding >

Stuart Gallimore, ADCS President, said:

“Here is yet another report illustrating the increasing pressures facing children and the services they rely on across the country. For how long will our unified calls for proper investment in children and their futures go ignored?

“There are more children in our society than ever before yet they are not being prioritised in policy decisions made in Whitehall. Since 2010, local authority budgets have been halved but the complexity and level of need in our communities has increased. As the report notes, local authorities must fund statutory child protection services where need exists but this has been at the expense of vital preventative and community services that prevent children and families’ needs from escalating, such as children’s centres, youth services and libraries. At the same time, life is getting harder for many; families are struggling to afford basic necessities; food banks are running out of supplies; schools are providing their pupils with clothes and even sanitary products, despite facing significant funding pressures of their own; and, child poverty is rising, driving further demand for our services. Correct me if I’m wrong but this doesn’t sound like a country that works for all children. Local authorities are committed to doing all we can to improve the lives of children and their families but only changes to national policy will make the difference.

“While some local authorities have benefitted from small, time limited pots of ring fenced funding this is neither a sustainable nor an equitable way forward. It does nothing to meet the needs of the system as a whole. Government must go beyond rhetoric of improving children’s life chances by investing a greater share of this country’s resources in them and their futures, but in the right way. We urge government to put children at the heart of the upcoming spending review by committing to a no deficit model of funding for children’s services with early intervention at its core. Without this, the human and, financial, costs will be huge.”

ENDS