CYP Now - Increase in council budgets for children’s services ‘highlights need for reform’

An increase in local authorities’ children’s social care budgets for 2022/23 highlights an “urgent need” for funding recommendations made in the Care Review to be implemented, sector leaders have said.

Local authorities are being forced to reduce spending on family support to balance budgets, sector leaders warn. Picture: Adobe Stock

Latest figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) show that the planned expenditure for local authorities on children’s social care for the current financial year amounts to £11.2bn.

This is an increase of £348m on the previous year’s budget.

The figures also show a cumulative overspend of £381m on children’s services across all councils in 2021/22 when a budget of £10.8bn was forecast.

The increase in planned expenditure on children’s social care in 2022/23 highlights “the urgency for reforming children’s social care”, a spokesman for the Local Government Association said, warning that without changes to funding councils will be forced to “plug gaps” including workforce retention and family help in order to support children in crisis.

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