Finance and Funding

“The scale and pace of change, alongside the cutbacks that we have seen over the past year are unprecedented.”

 We are now seeing the impact in communities across the country – and fear it could result in severe and long-lasting damage to the most vulnerable children and their families, as they struggle to cope.

Children’s services professionals are trying their best every day but budgets are shrinking and needs are growing quickly. We are at a tipping point.”

Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of Action for Children

Children’s Minister Sarah Teather MP said local authorities were “under huge pressure” and making difficult decisions, but good ones were “restructuring with care and making sensible changes so they can continue to provide much needed services for families in a more efficient way”.

“Our reforms are centred on targeting the children and young people who need the most help, which is why we are prioritising early years education and early intervention,” she said.

“We’ve given local authorities much more freedom over their budgets so they can better target vulnerable children and families. They will know better than central government what services to prioritise in their areas, based on the needs of their local communities.”

Research

Across the sector services are working to better understand what impact local decisions about future funding are having, what real savings might look like  and how new mechanisms for financing the sector will work.

Final_Red_Book_full  Action For Children

The_Voluntary_Sector_in_Health_Kings_Fund_and_NCVO

Briefing_on_Payment_by_Results  NCYVS

Reducing the risk cutting the cost