Children’s services are continuing to deliver improvements and sustain strong performance, according to a new report commissioned by the LGA.
Despite significant national challenges, local partnerships are doing ‘inspiring work’ which is ‘testament to how transformation can be achieved at a local level with the right enabling factors in place’.
However, the report – ‘A maturing approach to children’s services improvement: updating the key enablers of progress’ – suggests that what children’s services can achieve is ‘transcended’ by bigger and wider systemic challenges.
These include policy not always being joined up at a national level, structural challenges in recruiting and retaining workforce, lack of placements for children with the most complex needs, and the need for greater investment in services.
Councils have been rising to these challenges through a ‘culture change’ in workforce and closer partnership working. The voice and lived experiences of children are at the heart of the improvement effort.
The report also reveals the ‘undeniable impact’ of Covid-19, which has brought new children and families to the attention of children’s services who may not have previously needed help, intensified calls on mental health services for children and adults, and led to far-reaching changes in how the children’s workforce operates.
Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “It is very positive to see that councils are continuing to deliver improvements in children’s services, and a testament to their tireless efforts to ensure children and young people get the support they need.
“However, this report is a reminder of the much wider, systemic challenges faced by councils, including escalating funding concerns.
“While councils have responded well to these challenges, what is clear is that we need to see a national response that provides the investment and reform that children’s services desperately need.
“The Autumn Statement is an opportunity for the government to provide significant additional funding for all councils that can be wisely invested in stabilising the current system to ensure strong foundations on which to build future reform.”