Briefings and responses

Challenges caused by the systematic underfunding of early years provision are being exacerbated by the rising cost of living and inflationary pressures. This is negatively impacting the financial viability of early years providers and the quality of, and access to, childcare provision.

Councils want to do all they can to keep children and young people safe and to help them to thrive.

This briefing outlines key headlines from the review and the initial LGA view.

Making sure all children and young people have the bright future they deserve is a key ambition of every council.

Helping children and young people to fulfil their potential is a key ambition of all councils, but our children’s services are under increasing pressure.

The LGA welcomes the principle of greater flexibility for local areas to design multi-agency arrangements that work best for their local circumstances, but we have long argued that this flexibility must be couched within a robust regulatory framework to ensure consistency of quality and effectiveness. Unfortunately, we believe that the provisions outlined in the consultation fall some way short of this ambition

The LGA supports the corporate parenting principles within the Children and Social Work Act 2017, and welcomes the opportunity to comment on the draft guidance on their implementation.

This stocktake is a positive opportunity to review current services and make sure that the system is working as well as possible, and in particular we appreciate the constructive dialogue that the DfE has already instigated with the sector.

Key summary points and briefings for local government on the Child and Social Work Bill.

Finding loving homes for children is one of the most important jobs that councils do.