The state of children’s services has been described as ‘absolute carnage’ after years of underfunding.
Children’s services are understood to have been discussed at a recent meeting of the R9 group of council chief executives with senior officials at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with direct Government funding and caps on pricing believed to have been floated as measures to help deal with the crisis.
Cuts in welfare benefits have led to increasing poverty and more children being referred to councils for care while the largest independent providers of children’s social care bring in profits of more than £300m per year.
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