Since 2008, demand for services has rocketed. Over the same period, the amount of central government funding given to local authorities through the formula grant has fallen by 40 per cent, while early intervention funding is on track to be cut two-thirds by 2020.
Action for Children's report on council early help activity shows the impact of these cuts: in 2015/16, the charity calculates that 140,000 vulnerable children did not meet the criteria for support even though we know that this raises the risk they will need crisis intervention in the future.
However, the options open to councils are limited - the Local Government Association has calculated that children's services departments are going to overspend by £2bn by 2020.
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