Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that early help and family support services are equipped to meet the increasing needs of teenagers identified as children in need.

Through the Families First Partnership programme, backed by over £2 billion of funding between 2025/26 and 2028/29, the government is rolling out reforms to Family Help to ensure that all children, including teenagers, and their families, can access the right targeted support at the earliest opportunity.

In Family Help, multi-disciplinary teams will be embedded into the hearts of communities, providing access to a range of professionals and services tailored to local needs, including youth services. Where appropriate, youth workers can function as lead practitioners, being responsible for building relationships with, and coordinating support for, teenagers who need it.

To date, we have seen examples of local areas establishing specialist Family Help teams focused on contextual safeguarding, some of which bring together social workers and youth workers to support young people at risk of harm or experiencing exploitation.