Children on social service plans face a postcode lottery of support with ‘huge regional variations’ dictating the level of protection they receive, the Children’s Commissioner has revealed.
A new report by the commissioner found that children on child in need plans receive very different levels of support depending on which local authority area they are in.
The analysis shows that a quarter of children who were severely absent from school and referred to children’s services were not given any support and resulted in no further action.
In one local authority, 70% of the children involved in children’s social care were on child in need plans, while in another it was as low as 3.6%.
Nationally, 7.2% of pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan also had a child in need plan. This varied across the country, from 0.8% in one local authority to 26% in another.??
Children on child in need plans are the largest group of children supported by children’s social care in England. The challenges for children on child in need plans can vary from having caring responsibilities to be targeted for exploitation.
Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner said: ‘There will be a range of reasons for the regional variation uncovered in my report, but I hope better guidance is implemented so local authorities have a better understanding of what the purpose of child in need plans should be, why things are done so differently in different areas, and how we can improve support for this group of vulnerable children.’
