Responding to Ofsted’s annual report, published today, Cllr
, Chair of the
Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board,
said:
“This report is extremely concerning and
reinforces issues we have previously highlighted, including the
significant pressures that children’s services are
under.
“The pandemic has led to rising numbers of
families facing exceptionally difficult circumstances and
councils have worked tirelessly with schools to keep them open
and children and their families safe and well, through online and
virtual contact and resources, as well as high priority home
visits.
“As the impact of the pandemic becomes clear,
councils expect to see a significant rise in referrals to
children’s social care and demand for wider children’s support
services. It is essential that the right services can be there to
support them and help them cope, to avoid families reaching
crisis point.
“The extra funding for adult and
children’s social care announced in the recent Spending Review is
positive but will not on its own be enough to tackle the
significant challenges facing children’s social care. Councils
have been forced to scale back or cut universal and early help
services altogether prior to the pandemic due to increasing
demand for urgent child protection work alongside long-term
funding reductions.
“Significant additional funding for children’s
social care will be needed if we are to provide the support
children, young people and their families need, when they need
it. This includes early help funding to avoid families reaching
crisis point, and sufficient funding for those children and
families who need more intensive child protection responses. As a
starting point, the £1.7 billion removed from the Early
Intervention Grant since 2010 should be
reinstated.”
