Education written question – answered at on 12 December 2013.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of public sector spending cuts on child protection services.
Local authority funding for safeguarding children and young people is included within core funding for children's social care which comes from the Department for Community and Local Government's Formula Grant and local taxation. Funding is not ring-fenced and it is for local authorities to decide how to apply their funding across the services they deliver.
A report from the Audit Commission1 published in November 2013 found that children's social care has been largely protected from spending reductions from 2010-11 to 2013-14. Council spending on children's social care on average increased by 1.2% in real terms since 2010-11.
1Note:
Work is currently under way, commissioned by HM Treasury, on a joint project between the Department for Education and Department for Communities and Local Government looking at spend on and outcomes for children's services. The project seeks to develop proposals to increase the efficiency of children's services.
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