Charities warn on decline in early intervention services despite rise in council spending on children's services

Local authorities across England increased their spending on children’s services by £800m for 2021-22, but early intervention services are in decline, a study has found.

The analysis, conducted by Pro Bono Economics and commissioned by children's charities Action for Children, Barnardo’s, The Children’s Society, National Children’s Bureau and NSPCC, found that there has been a “startling” 45% drop in early intervention services in the last 12 years.

This comes despite a “spending surge” by local authorities on children’s services, the report revealed.

In 2021-22, local authorities across England increased their spending by 8% compared to the previous year.

However, 81% of the recent increase was “funnelled into crisis intervention services” - a rise from 67% seen a decade ago. Of the additional spending, £4 in every £5 went on late intervention services, the study found.

An implication of this, the charities noted, is that children are receiving help “after issues escalate, rather than preventing them”.

The report added: “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.”

Responding to the analysis, Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said: “The number of children in need of support from councils is now at its highest level since before the pandemic. This underlines why it is absolutely vital that in the upcoming Autumn Statement, the Government adequately funds children’s services so councils can meet this rising demand and ensure children and their families get the support they need, as soon as they need it.

“The funding announced in the Government’s children’s social care implementation strategy, is helpful but falls short of addressing the £1.6 billion shortfall – estimated prior to inflation – required each year simply to maintain current service levels. 

“Significant additional funding for all councils, not just for those chosen for the Department for Education’s pilot and pathfinder schemes, can be wisely invested in stabilising the current system to ensure strong foundations on which to build future reform.”

Chris Munday, Chair of the Association of Directors of Childrens Services (ADCS) Resources and Strategy Policy Committee, said: “This report shows that local authorities are spending more on children’s services, but that this is skewed towards late intervention. We are having to make increasingly counterintuitive decisions to manage rising demand whilst having to balance our budgets.

“[..] Local authorities must fund statutory child protection where need exists, but we must also balance our budgets. There is simply not enough money in the system to meet the level and complexity of need now evident in our communities, whilst also investing in earlier support to prevent children and families from reaching crisis point. When budgets are under pressure sadly non statutory parts of the system, the very services that can limit future demand, are often the first to be cut, it’s a vicious cycle. Local authorities want to support children and their families at the earliest possible opportunity because this is the right thing to do, but we need government’s support to do this."

Munday added: “Care can be the right option for some children, but where we can keep families together safely, we should. The earlier we work with children and families to tackle the root causes of the problems they face, the less impact these challenges will have on their lives and on society. However, our preventative duties have never been sufficiently funded by government to enable us to work with families in this way, addressing needs as and when they arise. This is not good economic policy and it will have huge social and human costs. There are important messages here for the Treasury and for the Department for Education, as the current financial situation has significant implications for children and the Department’s children’s social care reform programme.”

Lottie Winson