Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of placing councils under a duty to provide early help.

Under the Children Act 1989, local authorities are required to provide services for children in need for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting their welfare. The statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children is clear that local areas should have a comprehensive range of effective, evidence-based services in place to address needs early.

There are no current plans for a duty on local authorities to provide early help. The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care is due to set out its final recommendations this spring, and we will consider those relevant to early help to inform any next steps.