Councils struggling to fulfil statutory duties to children, study finds

Councils are struggling to cope with rising demand for services for children and families, with more than 40 per cent of lead members saying that a lack of money is preventing their local authority from fulfilling statutory duties to children. A survey of councillors repsonsible for children’s services conducted by the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) found that, in addition to 41 per cent having concerns about meeting statyutory duties, 66 per cent said their council doesn’t have sufficient funding to provide universal services such as children’s centres or youth clubs. Of those questioned, 87 per cent said that demand for children’s services had risen over the last two years. More than a third (35 per cent) said their local authority lacked the resources to support “children in need”, with 36 per cent having insufficient funding to help children in care, and nearly one in three (30 per cent) lacking the resources to support children with child protection plans. Read more.