LGA: Response to lack of measures to address children's social care funding pressures in the Queen's speech

In response to the Queen’s Speech today and the lack of measures to address the impending crisis in children’s social care, Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said:

“Councils were hoping for measures to be announced to address the funding gap facing children’s social care. Pressures facing children’s services are rapidly becoming unsustainable, with a £2 billion funding gap expected to open by 2020.

“Councils are committed to providing the best possible support to vulnerable children and their families, but the fact is that local authority budgets continue to shrink whilst demand for children’s social care services has more than doubled. In the last ten years, we’ve witnessed a 140 per cent increase in child protection enquiries, and this shows little sign of abating.

“Local government leaders are calling on the Government to commit to the life chances of children and young people by acting urgently to address the £2 billion funding gap. This gap will continue to grow unless action is taken now to reduce the number of families relying on the children’s social care system for support.”