In announcing the draft funding package for councils in 2015/16, local government minister Kris Hopkins confirmed that the amount allocated for local early intervention services would fall by £141m next year.
The proposed cut in early intervention funding amounts to 8.9 per cent of the current spending level, resulting in the budget falling from £1.576bn in 2014/15 to £1.435bn in 2015/16.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said the cuts risked leaving councils short of money to pay for early support for children, young people and families.
“Cutting core funding is counter-productive and will lead to significant cost pressures in the longer term due to increased demand for more costly lifelong interventions,” the LGA said.
In addition, money for local welfare assistance schemes for vulnerable families, which are emergency grants to support families on low income with one-off costs such as replacing a broken cooker or fleeing domestic violence, will be slashed from £172m to £129.6m.
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