across councils reinforces what many on the frontline of children's
services already know: there is a discernible increase in the number of
children and young people in need of care and protection (analysis,
p10).
Local authorities are finding ever more innovative ways of coping with the rise in demand for child protection services and, in some cases, are taking resources from other departments to do so. But there is only so much they can do to protect services when local government is expected to absorb hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts over the coming year and beyond (analysis, p12).
Latest NSPCC figures show that numbers of children in care are at their highest since 2010, while neglect referrals are at a 10-year high (news, p6). Such figures add credence to the call that the children's social care budget must be ringfenced if government expects services to keep pace with demand.
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