CYP Now - Local authorities should be legally bound to provide early help, government told

The government must introduce a legal duty requiring local authorities to provide early help services to struggling families, the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) has said.

Spending on early help services has been dramatically cut over the past decade, researchers have warned. Picture: Adobe Stock

A new report by the charity and the University of Cambridge finds that between 2010/11 and 2018/19, local authority funding on early help services fell by 44 per cent.

Over the same time period the use of late intervention services, including children entering care or the youth justice system, increased by 29 per cent.

“Despite the cost-effectiveness of intervening early, the biggest gap is in our understanding of the delivery and effectiveness of early help,” the report states.

Both the NCB and researchers at the University of Cambridge are calling on the government to use the ongoing Care Review to introduce a legal requirement for local authorities and statutory safeguarding partners to provide early help to children and families.

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