Funding has decreased and demand has gone up - these are the figures of a children's services system at breaking point.
Demand has gone up...
Over the past years demand for children's services has risen dramatically.
The number of child protection enquiries has increased 139 per cent in 10 years - from 84,100 in 2008/09 to 201,170 in 2018/19.
Over the same period, the number of children on child protection plans increased by more than 18,000.
The total number of looked after children reached a new high of 75,420 in 2017/18, representing the biggest annual rise of children in care in eight years. An average of 88 children are now coming into care every day.
...and funding has been cut
In 2018/19, councils across England were forced to spend £770 million more on children's social care than they had budgeted for.
Government funding for the Early Intervention Grant has been cut by almost £600 million since 2013. It is projected to drop by almost a £100 million more by 2020.
