Children’s services leaders call for cross-government childhood strategy
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
A long-term strategy for childhood overseen by a government Department for Children is needed to mitigate the impact of political uncertainty and underfunding for children and family services, sector leaders have said.
A new policy paper by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) criticises a lack of government action on its 2017 report A county that works for all children, stating: “Sadly, all seven of the recommendations in the paper still stand and the need for action on child poverty and the crisis in workforce and funding is arguably even starker than ever before.”
It highlights that “there has not been any significant new legislation for children and young people since the passing of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, although a Schools Bill was both introduced and withdrawn in 2022”.
This is despite the publication of the government’s response to in the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and its SEND and AP improvement plan last year.
The ADCS describes its new report as a “an urgent call to arms” for improvement across children’s services, education, early years, health, youth work and youth justice.
It notes an £800m children’s social care funding gap in 2022/23 and a predicted gap of £4bn across local councils over the next two years.
Meanwhile, 90 per cent of childcare providers say government funding doesn’t cover delivery costs, 24 per cent of all pupils are receiving benefit-related free school meals and assessments for special educational needs support and mental health services are at an all-time high.
In a series of recommendations to government, ADCS is calling on the Treasury to ensure sustainable multi-year funding across the sector.
The report describes current government investments, including a recent £500m one-off payment for local authority social care departments as “a sticking plaster”.
“More and more children and families require help and support from children’s social care but central funding for these vital services has not kept up, risking them becoming a blue light service,” it states, adding that children’s services leaders are increasingly concerned about “the growth of private equity backed provision, out of control profiteering and the risk of provider failure” in children’s residential care.
ADCS is also calling for the Department for Education to take control of youth services from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and to “cement early or family help in statute, as it is for adult social care”.
The report also calls for the creation of a Department for Children “which assumes the role of champion and advocate for children across government, in effect the role of director of children’s services at a national level” to oversee a cross-government strategy for childhood.
It notes that nine different departments hold levels of responsibility for the children’s sector.
“If the significant instability that has characterised politics and government in recent years, as illustrated by there being no fewer than five holders of the office of Education Secretary in 2022, is the new status quo, the existence of a comprehensive, strategic plan for childhood would mitigate some of the worst effects of this uncertainty for us all,” the report adds.
John Pearce, ADCS president said: “Clearly this country is not currently working for all children, we need the government to recognise this and act in a long-term way. The need for action on child and family poverty, a new approach to funding and addressing the workforce crisis is arguably stronger than ever before.
“We need government to recognise its role in addressing these challenges and to work with councils and other public services to take action on deep rooted injustices and inequalities, which are widening rather than closing.”
Responding to the report, Dr Jo Casebourne, Foundations’ chief executive, said: “Foundations supports the ADCS call for a comprehensive national plan for children, backed by cross-government investment in children’s health services and family support programmes.
But investment must be based on proven support: money should be spent where it matters most, embracing evidence-based approaches to ensure every penny counts.
“Children deserve happy, secure childhoods in which they can flourish. The next government must seize this pivotal moment, placing the wellbeing of children squarely at the heart of its agenda. A national plan for children has the power to transform child outcomes – if that plan is firmly grounded in evidence.”
Since 2010, funding for local government has fallen by almost half in real terms with several councils now effectively bankrupt, according to the report.
