Annex B
The following paragraphs are reproduced from
Every Child Matters: Change for Children, Chapter 4.
4.16. There are already significant resources
devoted to improving outcomes for children and young people in
Local Authorities, local health services and other partners such
as Connexions, Youth Offending Teams and Children's Fund partnerships.
Many of the activities underway will, as well as leading to better
outcomes, improve efficiency by removing duplication between services
and bringing budgets together where appropriate.
4.17. In 2004-05 and in 2005-06 all Local
Authorities are receiving a Safeguarding Children Grant of £90
million to help them respond to the recommendations of Lord Laming's
Report of the inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié.
This grant is being used to improve a wide range of services to
help safeguard children. Its use is being monitored through the
performance assessment process for Local Authorities.
4.18. A local Change Fund grant of £15
million, for an 18-month period to March 2006, has been allocated
across all Local Authorities to help them to build on progress
in setting in place children's trust arrangements. Local Authorities
can spend the grant on any aspect of children's trust arrangements,
including multi-agency and multi-disciplinary working, common
assessment, information sharing, joint commissioning or setting
up Local Safeguarding Children Boards. While this small grant
will allow local areas to kick-start change in various ways, the
increased efficiency of more joined-up working and less duplication
gives every incentive to reconfigure baseline budgets in order
to support new ways of working.
4.19. Budget 2004 announced that the Formula
Spending Share for children's social services would rise by £500
million between 2005-06 and 2007-08 to a total of £4.5 billion
and that investment in early years and childcare would increase
by £769 million between 2004-05 and 2007-08. Children's health
services will also benefit from growth in NHS expenditure by almost
70% in six years from £33 billion to almost £56 billion.
It will rise steadily over the next five years to more than £90
billion. These extra resources are producing results.
4.20. In addition, the Government is making
available specific resources to support the Every Child Matters:
Change for Children programme. This funding, combined with more
effective use of existing resources, means it is not a pressure
on council tax. The Government is committed to working with Local
Authorities, their representative organisations and their partners
as policies are developed further to ensure that they do not place
new, unfunded burdens on Local Authority resources.
4.21. There will continue to be grant resources
for ongoing work to reduce teenage pregnancy, improve the life
chances of looked after children, including through improving
foster care and increasing adoption and special guardianship,
for improving child and adolescent mental health services, and
for supporting the development of extended schools.
4.22. The Government will be making available
£22.5 million in 2006-07 and £63 million in 2007-08
to help Local Authorities implement the changes in this document.
We will discuss with local government partners how precisely this
money should be allocated. This means of allocation will be consistent
with the Government's aim to reduce ring-fencing and will ensure
that there will not be an increase in real terms in ring-fencing
of children's social services resources in any of the financial
years.
4.23. The Government is committed to rationalising
and simplifying funding streams wherever possible and will be
discussing with local government partners how best to achieve
this.
4.24. Additional resources are also being
made available to the Children's Workforce Development Council
to deliver the workforce reform agenda (£15 million in 2006-07
and £30 million in 2007-08), and are being held centrally
to support national-level initiatives on:
— the development of information sharing
indexes (£5.5 million in 2006-07, £23.75 million in
2007-08);
— support for parents and carers (£5
million in 2006-07, £10 million in 2007-08); and
— support for foster carers and other
activity to improve the life chances of children looked after
by Local Authorities (£5 million in each of 2006-07 and 2007-08).
4.25. A further £1 million in 2006-07
and £2 million in 2007-08 is being made available to support
voluntary and community organisations to engage with local change,
as set out in Working with voluntary and community organisations
to deliver change for children and young people.
4 March 2005
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