Children: Disadvantaged

(asked on 19th April 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the Government has to increase funding for the mentoring of vulnerable children in or on the edge of care.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 22nd April 2021

Local authorities set their own children’s services budget from their core spending power, based on local need and priorities.

An additional £300 million has been provided to local authorities this year for the social care grant, giving councils a total grant of £1.7 billion for children’s and adults’ social care in the financial year 2021-22. This is part of the total £51.3 billion core spending power available to local authorities this year for their services, including services for vulnerable children and those on the edge of care. The government has increased core spending power by 4.6% this year.

Local authorities will also receive an additional £1.55 billion of grant funding to support COVID-19 expenditure pressures this year, including children’s services. This funding is un-ringfenced, recognising local authorities are best placed to decide on where to allocate resources, and is on top of the £4.6 billion of grant funding which the government has already provided to support councils through the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Department for Education will work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Her Majesty's Treasury ahead of the next Spending Review, which will establish funding levels across the government.

Reticulating Splines