Children: Social Services
(asked on 21st June 2017) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been provided in each of the last five years to fund children's care services.
The Government does not provide a specific amount to Local Authorities for spending on children’s social care. Local authorities have had £232.6bn of revenue funding available for their services from Revenue Support Grant, council tax and retained business rates over the past 5 years, as shown in the table below.
£ million | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 |
Local authority retained business rates (after safety net and levy) | 10,871 | 11,201 | 11,658 | 11,974 | 14,885 |
Council tax requirement (excl parish precepts) | 23,004 | 23,575 | 24,325 | 25,637 | 27,158 |
Revenue Support Grant | 15,175 | 12,675 | 9,509 | 7,184 | 3,800 |
It is for local authorities to determine how to spend this and other sources of income on the services they provide, including services for children in care, taking account of local need and priorities.
Local authority spend, on children in care and adoption services, has increased over the last five years. The most recent five years we have data for are in the table below and are published as part of the Department’s Section 251 collection.
£ million (gross rounded) | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
Local authority spend on looked after children and adoption services | 3,384 | 3,496 | 3,661 | 3,769 | 3,942 |
Note: 2011-12 and 2012-13 figures are not directly comparable due to changes in the categories included between the two years.