- £4 in every £5 of additional spending went on late intervention services in 2021-22
- Spiralling number of children in residential care is driving a rise in late intervention spending
Local authorities across England increased their spending on children’s services by £800 million for 2021-22, a substantial 8% surge from the previous year. However, major children’s charities are raising alarms: despite this spending surge, early intervention services are in decline, witnessing a startling 45% drop in the last 12 years.
This new analysis, conducted by Pro Bono Economics and commissioned by leading children's charities, Action for Children, Barnardo’s, The Children’s Society, National Children’s Bureau and NSPCC, unveils a concerning trend: 81% of the recent increase was funnelled into crisis intervention services, a rise from the 67% seen a decade ago. Of this additional spending £4 in every £5 went on late intervention services.
The implications are clear: children are receiving help after issues escalate, rather than preventing them. With the rising expenses in late-stage interventions, primarily in the realm of children’s social care, the crucial early steps that could avert crises are being sidelined.
Lynn Perry MBE, CEO at Barnardo’s, said:
“We know that failure to provide the right support at the right time has a lifetime cost for children. Nearly half of those in care have a mental health disorder and four in 10 young people leaving care are not in education, employment or training by the time they reach 19.
“Failing to invest in local hubs and youth work which help families early means children miss out on the support they need and challenges can escalate – especially with the added pressure of the cost-of-living crisis. As the report shows, a growing number of children are reaching a stage where they need to live with foster families and especially in residential care – including a growing number of teenagers with complex needs.
“These new findings should be a wake-up call to the Government, highlighting the urgent need to break this vicious cycle, which creates huge costs for the Treasury and for children’s futures. We need significant investment in services that stop families reaching crisis point, which would not only reduce the financial cost to the state, but would allow more children to continue living with their birth families safely and improve their long-term life chances.”
Mark Russell, CEO of The Children’s Society, said:
“The time is now for an urgent shift in children’s services. We're firefighting a growing crisis in children’s social care that’s not only costlier but often misses delivering the best for children and their families.
"This isn’t just about funding; it’s also about timely, effective care. Our children deserve proactive support, not just emergency responses when situations worsen.”
Paul Carberry, CEO at Action for Children, said:
“This research shows once again how central government spending cuts are trapping cash-strapped councils in a "doom loop”, as their costs of children in care spiral and prevention services have to be slashed.
“For years now, successive governments have forced councils to run children’s services like A&E units, where only those at serious risk of harm get help. Waiting for children to be exposed to harm hurts children and families, and burns a massive hole in council finances. This is simply unsustainable.
“We need to rebalance children’s services so councils have the capacity to intervene earlier, support parents, protect children and keeps costs down.”
Anna Feuchtwang, CEO at the National Children’s Bureau, said:
"There has been a long-term shift in the way we help vulnerable children and families, increasingly only offering support in emergency situations. We must greatly expand help that prevents families from reaching crisis point in the first place. This will not only prevent harm to children but protect local authority budgets from the soaring costs of taking a child into care. The financial and moral case is overwhelming. The government must make children’s social care a priority and the voices of children, families and communities who rely on early intervention services must be at the heart of future reforms."
The core of this issue stems from central government funding cuts. Local authorities, under financial duress, are dialling back on early preventative services, which are instrumental in halting crises before they amplify. This shift is clear, with a staggering 79% increase in children entering residential care since 2010-11.
Sir Peter Wanless, CEO at the NSPCC, said:
“These worrying figures show children’s services are at breaking point across England. The financial strain on local authorities caused by crisis support for families at ever increasing levels is unsustainable, but there is still time to rectify and rebalance the system.
“To improve the outcomes for families and combat these spiralling costs, we need immediate investment in a preventative, joined-up system which prioritises family help and supports children before problems escalate.
“This will take political leadership and cross-party support on a wholesale reform of children’s social care delivered as a matter of urgency.”
Central government funding is vital to curtail the reliance on high-cost late interventions and ensure a proactive, cost-effective approach to children's services. To restore balance, there must be a higher priority placed on early interventions that not only save costs but more importantly, make a difference in young lives.
Melanie, a practitioner with The Children’s Society, has witnessed cuts and the impact on youth services:
“The youth service is now nearly all gone. Where young people used to go to lots of youth centres and clubs and get all of their energy out with their friends, that’s now not happening. With youth centres closed, they’ve got less places to go where they can feel safe and be engaged in positive activities. Home Start, the youth service, family support sessions, everything has gone.”
The charities are warning local authorities are being forced to tread well-worn paths into late intervention spending as they grapple with difficult spending budgets.
The speed of reform from central government must be faster and the investment larger, including faster implementation of the Care Review Recommendations. As costs continue to spiral with Government delays to reform, children’s social care is expected to cost an extra £1 billion over the next 10 years**.