Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the relationship between reductions in funding for children’s services and associated costs for (a) schools, (b) the police and (c) the NHS.

Local authorities have access to over £200bn to deliver services, including children’s services, between 2015 and 2020. Local government core spending power will increase in real terms next year.

At Budget 2018 we announced an additional £410m next year for adults and children’s social care, and £84m to support local authorities to expand programmes for children and families that have shown reduced costs to the police and the NHS.

We expect local authorities to continue to work closely with partner agencies to support and protect children in their area.