Children’s services from Sure Start to schools and NHS mental health are at breaking point, according to a coalition of 120 organisations that have called on the chancellor to invest in young people in the budget next week.
Local authorities backed the call, saying council-run children’s services were fast approaching a tipping point as they struggled to maintain services in the face of a funding gap estimated to reach £3bn by 2025.
The call comes at a time of increasing concern about rising child poverty, long waits for youth mental health services, school budget cuts and growing demand for services for youngsters with special educational needs and disabilities.
Councils have said financial pressures caused by rising demand for children’s services threaten to tip town halls into bankruptcy. More than 90 children a day are taken into care in England, while family support services undergo massive cuts.
Nearest tube: Elephant & Castle underground station (Northern and Bakerloo lines).
Nearest Railway Station: Elephant & Castle
Buses from Elephant and Castle: ask bus driver for Burgess Park. Bus numbers: 12, 171, 148, 176, 68, 484, 42, 40, 45