It's time to shout about children's services funding crisis

Under the radar of the daily noise of the election campaign the country's council leaders have sent out the starkest warning yet about the state of services for vulnerable children.

Alison Michalska, president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services, could not have put it more bluntly, telling a national newspaper: "Local authorities have worked hard to make savings, but we are running out of options." Richard Watts, chair of the Local Government Association's (LGA) children and young people's board, was equally direct: "Services caring for and protecting vulnerable children are now, in many areas, being pushed to breaking point."

The LGA has calculated that there will be a £2 billion shortfall by the end of the decade. Virtually the same as the shortfall in adult social care which will be £2.3 billion. Clearly the anxiety levels among council leaders have risen. They fear the tipping point has come.