The Department for Education has this month published figures showing councils are responding to increasing budgetary pressures by prioritising spending on fulfilling their statutory responsibilities, often at the expense of early intervention services.
The latest section 251 returns from local authorities to the department revealed that projected spend on children's services for 2013/14 is set to be 2.7 per cent lower than in 2012/13. But this overall figure masked huge variations across the main service areas for which councils are responsible. For example, family support services spend is set to rise by 13.8 per cent, while Sure Start and early years spend will drop 14.8 per cent.
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