New research from
the Education Policy Institute (EPI) examines the state of the
children’s social care system in England – bringing together the
latest data on children in need, intervention rates, staffing
levels and funding provision.
Key findings
Children’s social care – the latest
trends
-
Since 2010, the proportion of acute interventions from
social services has risen. Most notably, the number of
children issued with Child Protection
Plans (CPPs) increased by a quarter between 2010 and
2016.
- The increase may be part of a deliberate response to
high-profile reviews into child deaths resulting from abuse.
-
Cuts to early intervention services and rising
deprivation may also play a role. With local authorities
struggling to fund crucial early intervention services, social
care interventions become reactive – with more children on
Child Protection Plans as a result.
- Increases in more acute forms of intervention are also
occurring in spite of half of children’s social workers reporting
increases in thresholds for access to these services.
-
A large number of children’s services are rated poorly
by Ofsted - over half of local authorities in all regions were
rated ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’, with the
exception of London.
- Regions with the highest proportion of poorly rated local
authorities were in the South West (81% rated Requires
Improvement or Inadequate), the West Midlands (79%) and the North
West (74%).
Funding and staffing
-
Analysis of expenditure trends suggests that local
spending per child has fallen since 2010.
In order to maintain statutory
provision, local authorities have cut back on early support
services, and/or have used reserves.
-
The provision of social care staffing varies
considerably, and in many areas is showing signs of
strain. In London, workers’ caseloads are slightly
lower – yet agency workers fill a high proportion of vacancies.
In the Midlands and parts of the North, workers’ caseloads are
higher, but vacancies and agency rates are lower.
-
A greater proportion of local authorities in regions
with higher children’s social care caseloads have received poor
Ofsted ratings.
-
The number of workers entering the children’s social
care profession was substantially higher in 2017 compared to
previous years - effective local recruitment and
retention payment schemes may have contributed in some areas.
-
However, turnover rates are still very high, standing
at 14% - around 50% higher than the teaching
profession.
- In particular, staff burn-out appears to be a significant
problem – just under two-thirds of those leaving
local authority employment in 2017 had worked for less than five
years.
The future of the children’s social care
system
- With research indicating that child poverty is projected to
increase, growing pressures on the care system are
unlikely to decrease without measures that address the underlying
connections between poverty and child protection risk.
-
In light of financial constraints, additional resources
at a local level may also be necessary to prevent the outcomes
of vulnerable children deteriorating.
Commenting on the research, Whitney Crenna-Jennings,
author of the analysis and Senior Researcher at the Education
Policy Institute said:
“This research highlights several challenges to the provision
of quality social care for young people in England. The capacity
of many local authorities to offer preventative services has been
compromised by growing financial constraints, and the number of
more acute social service cases is on the rise. Along with
instability in the workforce, it is likely that these problems
could result in adverse effects on both the short- and long-term
outcomes of those in contact with social care.
“To safeguard the future of hundreds of thousands of
vulnerable children in England, the government should ensure that
local authorities are able to draw on sufficient resources, so
that more preventative services can be delivered.”
Notes to Editors
-
At least 1 in 20 children in England qualify as ‘in
need’ (CIN) at any point in a year.
-
The latest figures show that over 389,000 were in need
in 2017.
- Within this classification, more serious cases are issued
with a Child Protection Plan (CPP) and account for around 13% of
all CIN, children looked after by their local authority (LAC)
make up around 19%, and those with a disability make up 13%.
Domestic violence is implicated in 50% of CIN cases - family
mental health problems in around 40%; substance misuse and
emotional abuse are other factors of need.
