Spending on help for potentially vulnerable children in Rochdale cut by 11%
In 2015/16 the borough was spending £211.04 per child on early intervention but this fell to £188.70 in 2019/20 - according to analysis of Department of Education figures by charity Action for Children
Photo credit: Save the Children/PA Wire
Children at risk of poor health, low educational achievement and exposure to crime have seen spending on early help services cut by 11%.
Rochdale Borough Council have slashed their early intervention spending on potentially vulnerable kids since 2015-16.
In 2015/16 the borough was spending £211.04 per child on early intervention but this fell to £188.70 in 2019/20 - according to analysis of Department of Education figures by charity Action for Children (AfC).
The council said in response that the cuts were made in the face of ‘unprecedented austerity for the last decade’ and that they ‘were committed to helping children, young people and families at the earliest opportunity’.
Early intervention aims to support children and their families to prevent problems in later life such as poor physical and mental health, low educational attainment, crime and anti-social behaviour.
According to the Early Intervention Foundation, this can involve home-visiting programmes to support vulnerable parents or school-based schemes to improve children’s social and emotional skills.
Nationally, the median spend per child was £157.07 in 2019-20, down 22% from £201.42 in 2015-16.
The median is the middle of the range of per-child spending figures among councils, which is used to stop some local authorities with unusually high or low spending from skewing the average.
Imran Hussain, director of policy and campaigns at AfC, said: “Despite the evidence that early help services reduce harm to our children and save money on more costly crisis intervention, the last decade has seen significant budget cuts to these services.
“The funding and the incentives in the system are working in the wrong way. The lack of early help leaves children vulnerable, and means we are only intervening when it’s too late.
“This leads to more children going into costly care later down the road. This is morally and economically nonsensical. There is nothing more costly than a missed opportunity.”
The charity is urging the Government to boost early intervention funding and introduce a legal duty to provide early help.
Rochdale councillor Rachel Massey, cabinet member for children’s services and education, said: “We’re committed to helping children, young people and families at the earliest opportunity.
“This report shows some council’s having to make 50-80 per cent cuts to their early intervention spend, we’ve reduced by 11 per cent since 2015 and that is in the face of unprecedented austerity for the last decade.
“I don’t want to see any reduction in spending but with limited budgets difficult decisions have to be made.
Coun Massey added: “Here in Rochdale we’ve a strong early help offer, since June 2020 we have supported over 8,000 families and we’ve been innovative over the years in the programmes we run to make sure people get support early.
“We help with behavioural support, emotional support, specialist programmes, food support, financial support, parenting support and a range of other proven interventions. Our families tell us that these have been a real help to them.
“Our early intervention work on relationships has been recognised nationally for its success and we’re looking at more ways we can help at the earliest possible point.”
