Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department is providing to improve local authority support for vulnerable children.

All children should have access to the support they need to keep them safe, provide them with a stable and nurturing home, and overcome challenges to achieve their potential. That is why, at the Spending Round 2019, the government confirmed an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care in 2020-21 in addition to the continuation of all existing social care grants.

Local authorities core spending power is expected to rise from £46.2 billion to £49.1 billion in 2020/21, an estimated 4.3% real terms increase.

We also provide targeted help and support to drive improvement in local authorities. We are investing £20 million in regional sector-led improvement to get ahead of failure. Our strong ‘Partner in Practice’ authorities have already helped over 70 local authorities, getting upstream of the risk of failure, with work underway to broker support for many more. Additionally, we are investing £2 million in improving leadership in children's services with support being delivered through the local government authority. In addition to the £84 million targeted fund, the Autumn Budget made £410 million available to local authorities for adults and children’s social care in 2019/20.