Ahead of the review, five leading children’s charities have submitted new analysis to the Treasury, detailing the scale of the funding gap which threatens to push children’s services ‘to breaking point’.
Action for Children, Barnardo’s, the Children’s Society, National Children’s Bureau and the NSPCC are urging chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, to level up local authority finances to help protect England’s poorest children.
The analysis reveals that even before the pandemic hit, these services were facing a funding crisis.
In 2018/19, local authorities were operating with £2.2 billion less funding for children than in 2010/11, and their decreasing resource was affecting their ability to support and protect young people.
Coronavirus has placed an already struggling system under unsupportable strain, and is likely to worsen the trend in spending that has seen early intervention services, which aim to prevent situations from reaching a crisis point, lose 46 per cent of their funding over the last decade.
There are also signs that the pandemic has led to children being at greater risk of harm due to the perfect storm of increased economic and housing insecurity and stress at home; reduced oversight from professionals and other adults; and increased time online leaving some young people vulnerable.
Children’s charities say that now is the moment to make an investment in children’s social care that is sustainable, able to level up communities by distributing according to need, and delivered through a mechanism that will encourage early intervention.
Areas of deprivation
Since 2010/11, central Government funding for local authorities with areas of high deprivation has fallen at twice the rate of those in the most affluent parts of England, the analysis reveals.
These are also the areas where children are facing the greatest challenges, with high levels of unemployment, free school meal eligibility and domestic abuse.
As the need, and poor financial situation of these authorities is likely to continue to deteriorate, it is the areas with significant levels of deprivation that are most likely to be vulnerable to ongoing disruption from the pandemic.
Anna Feuchtwang, chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau, said, ‘Children’s services were already on the ropes from a steady succession of cuts, but they now have the extra demands on them brought on by the pandemic to cope with. We fear that this added pressure could push some councils over the edge.
She added, ‘In this context, the notion of intervening early to support children and families is being dropped, as services focus scarce resources on emergency cases. The government must step in and properly fund local authorities so they can reach out to children, young people and families before their problems escalate.’
Imran Hussain, Director of policy and campaigns at Action for Children, said, ‘The coronavirus crisis has crashed into the lives of vulnerable families after a decade of decline in funding for early help services designed to help them before they reach crisis point.’
He added, ‘It would be irresponsible to have an NHS offering only A&E departments but no primary care or public health services, yet this is the short-sightedness we’re facing in children’s services. A system geared only for crisis guarantees more children will end up in crisis.’
Long term investment
Amid economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the long-term Comprehensive Spending Review has been replaced with the one-year Spending Review.
Announcing the review, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said, ‘In the current environment its essential that we provide certainty. So we’ll be doing that for departments and all of the nations of the United Kingdom by setting budgets for next year, with a total focus on tackling Covid and delivering our Plan for Jobs.
He added, ‘Long term investment in our country’s future is the right thing to do, especially in areas which are the cornerstone of our society like the NHS, schools and infrastructure. We’ll make sure these areas crucial to our economic recovery have their budgets set for further years so they can plan and help us Build Back Better.’
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said, ‘Despite the shorter window it is vital that the early years sector is prioritised in this spending review. The Government’s Plan for Jobs urgently needs a Plan for Childcare as part of our economic recovery.
‘We have submitted a clear case for protecting the early years sector in this Spending Review and I have met with the Treasury and Ministers over the last few weeks. We’re campaigning hard for a fair settlement for childcare providers and will be working with our members to ensure their value is seen over the coming weeks. Childcare providers are an essential part of our social and educational infrastructure.
She added, ‘But we know how many nurseries are in serious financial difficulties and must be supported, both in the short term to survive the pandemic but also in the longer term. If the Government is serious about levelling up opportunity across the country, they must invest in our children’s earliest years.’
