The LGA's media office provides the national voice of local government in England and Wales on the major issues of the day for national, regional and local press.
“Councils want to work with government to prioritise a child-centred recovery plan which offers the brightest future for children and families as we recover from the pandemic – it is essential this plan goes beyond the First 1000 days so that councils can intervene early at whichever stage families need it."
“To further support the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities, the Government should urgently complete its ongoing review of the SEND system"
“Mental health needs to be at the heart of a holistic approach to overall health and wellbeing, including investment in community-based services, such as youth services. Health and wellbeing should be intrinsically linked to a child-led education recovery plan."
"Councils want to work with government on a child-centred, cross-government pandemic recovery plan which offers the very best future for children and families."
“Councils face significant financial challenges to deliver much-needed SEND support to all those who need it and to meet rising demand, reporting a spending deficit of £675 million last year."
“Councils’ youth offending teams have an exceptional record of reducing youth crime and making a real difference to young people’s lives, but they are under huge pressure after seeing their government funding halved over the last decade."
Responding to the Commission on Young Lives report into children’s social care, suggesting it is potentially unfit for purpose, Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said:
“Keeping children and young people safe is one of the most important roles that councils have. However, a huge increase in demand at a time when council budgets have been significantly reduced is making it increasingly difficult to carry out this role effectively for all children. Despite increasing children’s social care budgets by over £1 billion over the
"We fully support the investment targeted at ‘cold spot’ areas, to help provide the schooling every child deserves. However, the pandemic has hit the educational attainment of all pupils hard, particularly those from vulnerable backgrounds, and the impact of this will be felt for years to come."
The number of children with mental health problems seen by social workers has surged by a quarter since before the coronavirus pandemic, amounting to nearly 1,500 kids presenting to councils every week.