Timpson warns of 'crossing the line' on children's services funding

In an interview with CYP Now, Timpson, who was children's minister for five years prior to losing his parliamentary seat at the June 2017 general election, said that economic circumstances for children's services departments are "tough", and those responsible for funding provision need to be alert to budgets falling below sufficient levels.

"There is no doubt that demand has risen at a time when local government budgets are under pressure," said Timpson, who has taken on a series of children's services roles in recent months, including the chairmanship of Cafcass, and leading a review on schools exclusions.

"All children's services departments require adequate funding and those holding the purse strings need to be mindful of when that line is being crossed."

Government statistics published in December 2017 show that total spending on children and young people's services increased by £41.3m, from £9.14bn in 2015/16 to £9.18bn in 2016/17.

However, there were 646,120 referrals to children's social care in 2016/17, up 3.97 per cent on the previous year. And there are currently record numbers of children in care.

The Local Government Association has estimated that children's services departments are facing a £2bn funding gap by 2020.

However, Timpson said that he does believe there is scope for councils to become more efficient with the money they already have.

He said his contention that sufficient funding levels are maintained is "not to say that more can't be achieved with current resources".

"The wide variation across the country of funding per head for children and the outcomes they achieve remains," he said.

"There continues to be scope for better commissioning arrangements, cross-council co-operation and an improved understanding of the impact of the money spent at different stages of a child's interaction with children's services."

Last week, a report commissioned by the LGA, questioned the DfE's view that the fact that some authorities with lower per-head spend on children's social care achieve better outcomes than those spending more money indicates that, rather than additional funding being required, further efficiencies can be found.

The research concluded that the main drivers of the cost of children's services are largely beyond the control of councils, and different levels of expenditure are "inevitable".

To read the full interview with Edward Timpson, click here.