Local authorities play a crucial role in delivering a range of targeted interventions and support for children in need and those who are looked after as well as providing more widely accessible services for children and families such a family centres and family hubs (commonly referred to as early help services).
In recent years, councils in England are spending more than ever on social care services for children and families. Growth in expenditure of more than £600 million in 2022-23 represented a 5% increase from the previous year, meaning total annual expenditure now exceeds £12.2 billion, over £1 billion higher than it was in 2010-11 and more than £2 billion more than it was six years prior. Yet it is increasingly clear that accelerating expenditure is not leading to improved outcomes for the children and families the system supports.
The data in this report shows that increasingly many local authorities are having to prioritise funding on late intervention intensive services for children in care, rather than early help support. However, this creates a “vicious cycle” where local authorities are increasingly unable to help families early on and means longer term more children enter the system.
Delivering better outcomes for the children and young people coming into contact with children’s services is fundamental to breaking down the barriers to opportunity. To deliver change and national renewal, government must be prepared to tackle not only the specific challenges within the market for care placements and local government finances but also address the wider social and economic issues that are putting ever more strain on an increasingly costly system. This can be best achieved by investing in services which help families early and before they reach crisis point.