Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that councils with above-average demand for children’s social care receive adequate resources under the revised needs-based formula.

The existing formula, last updated in 2013/14, is significantly outdated and no longer reflects current levels of need. Since then, many local authorities have experienced substantial changes in deprivation, child population density, and other factors that drive demand for services.

The Children and Young People’s Services formula provides a more accurate and robust assessment of each local authority’s relative need for children’s services. It does so by analysing a combination of child and neighbourhood characteristics that best predict whether a child will engage with social care. These include child‑level factors such as age, gender, and eligibility for free school meals, alongside neighbourhood indicators such as deprivation and poor health.

This approach ensures that councils with the greatest levels of relative need receive the largest shares of available funding, enabling them to effectively deliver vital services.