Children’s services 'ill-prepared for devastating impact of coronavirus', charities warn
Nina Jacobs
Monday, May 18, 2020
Children’s services could be hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic as years of underfunding has left them ill-prepared to cope with the volume of extra challenges presented during lockdown, a coalition of the UK’s largest children’s charities has said.
Two new reports, published this month by Action for Children, National Children’s Bureau, NSPCC, The Children’s Society and Barnado’s, warn of the “devastating” impact caused by coronavirus to services following a decade of “crisis-driven firefighting” by councils.
The group says already overstretched children's services could struggle to cope with a predicted spike in demand once the coronavirus crisis has ended and the full extent of the pandemic is realised.
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Even more children and families, "hidden" from the view of professionals during lockdown, could reach crisis point before any help is provided, the charities said.
The group is calling on the government to deliver a package of rescue funding for councils, some of which are already spending financial reserves to support children’s services provision.
The research, which provides updated analysis of funding and spending trends within children’s services across England, shows that councils have “fought hard” to limit the impact of funding cuts on frontline services.
However, a combination of cuts and rising demand has pushed councils to move away from "early intervention" services, forcing them to allocate greater proportions of their spending to statutory areas such as safeguarding and children in care, the report states.
The investigation shows funding from central government for children’s services has fallen by £2.2 billion between 2010/11 and 2018/19 leading to spending on early help falling by almost half (46 per cent) during this period.
The analysis highlights late intervention, including child protection teams and youth justice services, accounted for 58 per cent of local authority spending on children and young people’s services at the start of the decade.
By 2018/19, spending in this area had risen to 78 per cent, with the cost of services for children in care increasing the most by 40 per cent from 2010/11 to 2018/19.
Despite councils making “difficult spending decisions” to bridge funding shortfalls, the group says such a tactic is not sustainable long-term unless extra money is allocated by central government.
“This will allow them to be able to afford preventative early intervention services like family support and children’s centres.
“And, by doing so, fewer families will reach crisis point and so they will have to spend less on costly late intervention work,” the group said.
Barnado’s chief executive Javed Khan said the charity had long warned of a “perfect storm” facing children’s social care, and the pandemic would only serve to widen the gap between demand and resource further.
“Even before the lockdown, children were facing growing challenges, from knife crime and gangs, to cyberbullying and online grooming.
“Now there is a new wave of ‘hidden’ children, falling into poverty, experiencing domestic abuse and tipping the existing crisis in mental health into catastrophe,” he said.
Action for Children said children’s services are at risk of being unprepared for the “fallout” for families affected by the pandemic.
“A system geared only for crisis, guarantees more children will end up in crisis,” explained Carol Iddon, the charity’s deputy chief executive.
“We’re here because for ten long years councils have been backed into an ever-tighter corner, with no choice but to abandon early help services that stop family problems like domestic abuse or neglect from spiralling,” she said.
NSPCC’s chief executive Peter Wanless said a new approach was needed to allow councils to stop “shifting resources” to address funding gaps.
“The government must take the opportunity of the spending round to set out a plan for investment in children’s services that will deliver the evidence-based interventions that can make all the difference for children and families, giving them the platform they need to have happy and fulfilling lives,” he said.