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Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, responded to the Commission on Young Lives report into children’s social care, suggesting it is potentially unfit for purpose 

“Keeping children and young people safe is one of the most important roles that councils have. However, a huge increase in demand at a time when council budgets have been significantly reduced is making it increasingly difficult to carry out this role effectively for all children. Despite increasing children’s social care budgets by over £1 billion over the last two years at the expense of other services, these services still face a shortfall of at least £600 million a year.

“This report is right to highlight the challenges in finding appropriate homes for young people where they cannot live with their parents. The Competition and Markets Authority recently confirmed councils’ concerns that the ‘market’ for children’s placements is failing and we are working closely with them and the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care as they develop recommendations for improvement. However these changes will not come quickly enough for the children who need support now. We urgently need the Government to work with us on recruiting the foster carers and children’s homes workforce that we need to support our children in care.

“Keeping young people safe is a job for everyone, including children’s social care, education, police and health services. Councils want to work with government on a child-centred, cross-government plan which ensures all departments play their part in shaping the very best future for children and families. This would need to be supported by the right level of funding to enable councils and their partners to provide the early intervention and prevention support to stop children reaching crisis point in the first place.”

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