CYP Now - Poorest council areas hardest hit by early help cuts

Council spending on early support for families has halved in the last decade with the most deprived local authority areas the hardest hit, research has revealed.

Areas like Sunderland (pictured) in the North East, have faced the biggest cuts in early help spending. Picture: Adobe Stock

Over the last ten years investment in early intervention support by councils has been cut from £3.8bn to £1.9bn, according to the research that has been commissioned by a charity coalition that includes NSPCC, Barnardo’s and Action for Children.

This also reveals that the cuts have been deepest in the most deprived councils, who have slashed early help spending by 61 per cent.

The West Midlands and North East faced the biggest falls in spending on early support per child over the decade, the report states.

In contrast cuts in the least disadvantaged local authorities have been by 39 per cent, according to the coalition, which also includes the National Children’s Bureau and The Children’s Society.

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