Respite Care: Children

(asked on 29th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a ring-fenced grant to assist local authorities in meeting their statutory duty to provide short breaks and respite for seriously ill children.


Answered by
Luke Hall Portrait
Luke Hall
Minister of State (Education)
This question was answered on 5th July 2021

Supporting the most vulnerable children and young people, and local authorities in maintaining their statutory services, continues to be a key priority for this Government.

The Spending Review 2020 confirmed that the Core Spending Power of local authorities will rise by 4.6% in cash terms from £49.0 billion in 2020-21 to up to £51.3 billion in 2021-22, which is a real terms increase. This real-terms increase builds on the largest year-on-year increase in spending power in a decade and recognises the resources councils need to meet their pressures and maintain children’s services, including their statutory duty to assess the social care needs of seriously ill children and young people, and to provide respite care where necessary.

The Government has also given over £6 billion in un-ringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of Covid-19 spending pressures. This unprecedented level of funding is un-ringfenced in recognition that local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet service pressures in their local area, including for children and young people.

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