Children: Social Services

(asked on 30th January 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has identified a level of local variation which is acceptable in the amount of money spent per child in need; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 4th February 2019

We publish information on the average spend per child in need, by local authority, in the local authority interactive tool. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-interactive-tool-lait.

This shows a number of unit cost calculations relating to the children in need population, including total annual local authority expenditure on looked after children divided by the number of looked after children and total annual local authority expenditure on social work and commissioning divided by the total number of children in need.

There are a range of factors that will lead to variation in the amount of money spent per child, including the needs and circumstances of the children supported and accommodated. These factors will influence the services provided to children and the cost of their accommodation.

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