Overspend in children’s services

Stuart Gallimore, President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, said:

“Local authority budgets have been reduced by half since 2010 at the same time the level and complexity of need present in our communities has risen significantly. Local authorities are committed to keeping children and young people safe from harm which is why we have seen a slight rise in spending on children’s services but we are increasingly having to use money from reserves or divert funding away from other services our communities rely on, such as children’s centres, youth services and libraries, many of which provide a safety net for children and families before their problems reach crisis point – it’s a vicious cycle. That most councils were forced to overspend on their budgets last year to meet their statutory duties should serve as a warning sign to the Treasury. We need a long term funding strategy for children’s services not the government’s current favoured approach of small, time limited pots of funding for some local authorities but not all.”

ENDS

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