Local authorities should be legally bound to provide early help, government told
Fiona Simpson
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
The government must introduce a legal duty requiring local authorities to provide early help services to struggling families, the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) has said.
A new report by the charity and the University of Cambridge finds that between 2010/11 and 2018/19, local authority funding on early help services fell by 44 per cent.
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Over the same time period the use of late intervention services, including children entering care or the youth justice system, increased by 29 per cent.
“Despite the cost-effectiveness of intervening early, the biggest gap is in our understanding of the delivery and effectiveness of early help,” the report states.
Both the NCB and researchers at the University of Cambridge are calling on the government to use the ongoing Care Review to introduce a legal requirement for local authorities and statutory safeguarding partners to provide early help to children and families.
“This should encompass a broad definition of early help, including support to alleviate the impact of poverty and poor housing,” the report states.
It also calls on the Treasury to increase funding allocated for early help services to support this duty.
Further recommendations noted in the report include:
The Department for Education should seek to reduce variations in thresholds for early help by providing clear guidance and training on assessing eligibility.
Government should develop a national outcomes framework for early help services, building on the work of the Supporting Families programme. This framework should be co-produced with children and families.
The impact of these measures should be rigorously evaluated over a number of years. In particular, this evaluation should include use of routinely collected data from different services, to explore the outcomes for children and families receiving early help and social care interventions over time.
The Care Review, which was launched in January, has said it will publish its initial Case for Change report early this summer and is expected to be completed by spring 2022.
Anna Feuchtwang, chief executive of the NCB, said: “One of the central aims of the Children Act was to give a sense of urgency to authorities when they take action to protect the welfare of children. But progress has stalled, and funding cuts mean that services often let children and families’ lives spin out of control before doing anything.
“It’s time for a rethink of how we configure services – and that action starts with government lifting the pressures on struggling families, and not ignoring factors like poor quality, overcrowded housing and poverty.”
Josh MacAlister, chair of the Care Review added: “This report, and the evidence base it draws on, is a hugely welcome building block for the Independent Review of Children's Social Care and I look forward to working with the National Children's Bureau to learn more about their recommendations.”