LGA's new children's champion: Anntoinette Bramble, chair, LGA children and young people board

Anntoinette Bramble trained as a teacher, beginning her career in 2006 and later becoming a deputy head. Elected to Hackney Council in 2010, she was appointed deputy mayor for the London borough in 2016. In July, Bramble replaced fellow Labour councillor Richard Watts as chair of the Local Government Association's (LGA) children and young people board.

As a teacher, are you concerned about councils' waning influence on schools?

Local authorities' education role is diminishing, but they still have responsibility for the education of the most vulnerable children.

Off-rolling is a concern and many LGA members have mentioned that. The LGA wants to work with the Department for Education to better understand informal exclusions and how we monitor it - we don't know how often it is happening, which is the real challenge.

I'm not soft on discipline: I believe that if a child has done something wrong, they should feel the consequences. But when did we decide as a society that a punishment for a child is to be less educated?

We have to rethink what the consequences are for children. Exclusion increases their risk of exploitation or being involved in gangs. There is a causal link when you look at children who are excluded who end up in youth offending; so the data tells us it doesn't work. I'm not saying a child stays in a school no matter what, but there should be a consequence other than depriving children of their education. Now's the time to look at that with the DfE and Ofsted.

Is the key to overcoming the problem better working between councils and academies?

Authorities have to continue to lobby and challenge those schools - it's sometimes like banging against a closed door, but you've still got to bang.

It is also about going back to the DfE and saying "you directly fund these schools and they are answerable to you - what are you doing about this?" We're telling the schools "we want you to keep this child", but we don't have that power, it sits with the DfE so what are they doing?

In Hackney, because we built academies from scratch, we have good relationships but that doesn't mean we are immune. There are always tensions. Give us the powers to intervene in any school any time when we know there's an issue, regardless of status.

Are you concerned about London schools suffering as a result of the new national funding formula?

London has invested in education and the London Challenge has made a difference. We want to see investment being levelled up, not down, across all regions. It is unhelpful for the government to say this region has a lot of money so we're going to give money from one deprived area to another. We know investment and good leadership has made a difference, and that's what the government should be looking at.

When you have a model that is working, why is the solution to take money away from those deprived areas? Don't punish London for its success, let's think about how we better support other regions.

The LGA warns of a £2bn funding gap for children's services by 2020. What impact is this having?

Councils are finding it more challenging to meet statutory needs amid increased demand and decreasing funding. It's a real challenge. The situation in Northamptonshire and East Sussex councils highlight the pressure local authorities are facing to meet these demands with depleted funding. Councils have already made tough decisions to cut preventative services to put money into meeting statutory duties. It is those services that prevent problems escalating, yet they are the ones most at risk.

How can this be solved? Is ringfencing a proportion of council budgets for early help a solution?

More money is needed and some areas are still on the journey to making efficiency savings. However, there's only so much you can do in terms of cutting staff and reducing duplication - actually most local authorities are at that point.

You have to think about what that preventative and early help model looks like. That's an important issue the government has to consider. Otherwise it is a false economy - you're taking all the money out of prevention to spend on statutory services.

Are you concerned that some councils will lose out under government plans to generate all spending from local taxation?

It's dependent on authorities' ability to raise that revenue in areas that are deprived. Even in wealthier areas, shop fronts are changing and housing is more expensive. It doesn't mitigate the levels of deprivation.

Nothing can replace government funding. Government has to accept that for authorities to deliver local services, they need to be funded sufficiently. I'm not speaking against innovation, but there comes a time when we have to talk about what we need to fund. For example, we welcome that children with special needs are supported until 25 now, but what the government didn't do is increase the funding to reflect this. So you have more children competing for the same pot of money - it doesn't work.

Do you expect relations with the government to be fractious in the year ahead?

My approach is that we need to lobby and put pressure on government to get what authorities need. What that looks and feels like is less important - it's the road we have to walk. It could be challenging, but that's what we're here for - we're the voice of local government and need to speak loudly and clearly.

Anntoinette Bramble CV

• 2018: Appointed chair of the LGA's children and young people board
• 2016: Appointed statutory deputy mayor for Hackney
• 2012: Appointed cabinet member for children's services
• 2010: Elected to Hackney Council
• 2006: Qualified as a teacher