Increasing levels of child poverty are affecting children and young people’s education, with schools dealing with ‘Dickensian’ levels of squalor, a major teaching union has warned.
Frontline services in Northamptonshire will be largely protected in next year’s budget, the troubled county council claimed – although council tax will rise.
The rising number of children in care places “huge demand” on councils and reinforces the need for greater funding for children’s services, council leaders have said.
An additional commissioner is likely to be sent into troubled Northamptonshire County Council after Ofsted found children’s services have “significantly declined”.
Ministers are finally listening to local government and last week’s Budget represented a series of strategic victories for the sector, says James Maker of the County Councils Network.
The NHS and councils need to collaborate to develop a system to support children with mental health problems, the Local Government Association has said.
Charities fear children will be left open to “neglect and abuse” as local authorities have drastically cut their spending on children’s centres in England over the past five years.
Thousands of children could miss out on care unless the government clarifies what councils must legally provide as they cut services, the Children’s Commissioner has told PF.
The government must reverse spending cuts to public health funding to tackle rising levels of childhood obesity in England and Wales, council leaders have urged.
Financial pressures on English councils mean they are struggling to provide a ‘good’ standard of social care provision for children, an independent think-tank has highlighted.
Child poverty has risen twice as fast as official figures suggest and has been significantly underestimated in government data, a think-tank has warned.
