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"Councils are clear that the Government should provide additional and ongoing funding to meet this need, otherwise councils may not be able to meet their statutory duties and children with high needs or disabilities could miss out on a mainstream education."

Cllr Roy Perry, Vice Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, responds to a joint report on neglect of older children from the inspectorates Ofsted, HMI Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and HMI Probation.

"Councils are committed to ensuring that parents have access to high quality, flexible childcare so that all children get the best start in life."

Responding to a report by the Children’s Commissioner on the state of children’s mental health services, Cllr Judith Blake, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said: “This report supports our call for greater investment in the services that help children have mentally healthy childhoods and reduce the pressure on the services that treat mental illness in children. Supporting children early on to reduce the need for clinical interventions means more can receive help when they need it, rather than waiting until they are unwell. “Waiting too long for

"Councils want all children to return to school but it is imperative that pupils return to school only when it is safe for them to do so and schools are best placed to make those decisions based on their own individual circumstances."

“It is vital that the expertise of local public health teams is used to help with the logistics and rollout of the plan, while government needs to urgently publish guidance that supports this announcement to provide clarity for schools, address questions which currently remain unanswered, and takes account of local needs and capacity challenges.”

Cllr Linda Thomas, Vice Chair of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, responds to quarterly figures on teenage pregnancies in England and Wales, published today by the Office for National Statistics.

Responding to a report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman on councils’ children in care services, Cllr Judith Blake, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Looking after vulnerable children is a top priority for councils, which work extremely hard to ensure that all children in care get the love and support that they need to flourish. This report provides useful guidance to help councils continuously improve to achieve this goal. “Unfortunately, many councils are being pushed to the brink by unprecedented demand and increasing

Protecting children and helping them to get the very best in life is one of the most important things that councils do and it is positive that the proportion of children’s services departments rated good or outstanding has increased

“It is good that this research recognises that multi-agency support for pupils with SEND often complements the support offered by schools. However, the continued rise in demand for overall and new education, health and care (EHC) plans remains a pressing issue for councils as they strive to provide every child with the best possible support to meet their needs."