Stopping the Spiral

The National Children’s Bureau has worked with other leading children’s charities including NSPCC, Action for Children, The Children’s Society and Barnardo’s to publish evidence of how cuts to funding and spending on children’s services have impacted on families’ lives.

The analysis – conducted by researchers at Pro Bono Economics – unearthed a system of care that is increasingly geared towards helping families once their problems have spun out of control.

Dwindling amounts of money are focused on vital early intervention work, which can provide exactly the types of help that can keep struggling families together, and prevent children from suffering neglect and abuse.

The report – Stopping the Spiral – which featured in BBC news coverage and a joint letter to Liz Truss, showed that:

• More vulnerable children than ever now need crisis support, after councils were forced to halve spending on services which help prevent them coming to harm.
• Over the ten years between 2010/11 and 2020/21, investment in early intervention support by councils in England fell by half, from £3.8bn to £1.9bn.
• Councils face rising demand for their help with a 24% rise in the number of children in care to almost 80,000, costing an extra £1.3bn.

The coalition of charities say that councils have struggled with the impact of cuts to funding from central government, with many of the poorest areas hardest hit, .and are calling on Government to take action to reform the system.

Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive of the National Children’s Bureau, said:
“The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care has provided a vision for strengthening families based on the premise of taking action early to prevent children from reaching harm. But this blueprint cannot succeed unless the Government urgently allocates money to reverse the trends of the last decade.”

The National Children’s Bureau brings people and organisations together, listens to children and young people and takes co-ordinated action towards achieving a better childhood for the UK.  Find out more about the report here: Stopping the Spiral