Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the effect on vulnerable children of the reduction in central Government funding for children and young people’s services from £813 in 2010-11 per child and young person to £553 in 2017-18.
The government is committed to improving the lives of vulnerable children.
Over the 5-year period from 2015 to 2020, councils will have had access to more than £200 billion. Within that, we have seen councils prioritise spending on the most vulnerable children, with spending on child protection increasing from £2.2 billion to £2.4 billion in 2018-19.
In order to help support local authorities meet rising demand, the government is providing councils with an additional £1 billion for adult and children's social care in every year of this Parliament. This is on top of the continuation of the £410 million social care grant in 2020-21.
As set out in the Conservative Party’s manifesto, we will review the care system to make sure that all care placements and settings are providing children and young adults with the support they need.