Recommendation 14

MHCLG recognises the importance of investing in prevention but also the challenge of funding it when finances are constrained.34 Preventative services help stop, delay or reduce the need for statutory services and can help to deliver better outcomes.35 Over the period 2015–16 to 2023–24, local authorities have spent more on some later intervention services and less on 26 C&AG’s Report, para 1.12 27 Q 97 28 Qq 43, 97 29 Q 46 30 Qq 46, 97 31 Committee of Public Accounts, The Asylum Transformation Programme, Seventy-Sixth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 1334, 27 October 2023 32 Q 96 33 Q 95 34 C&AG’s Report, para 14 35 C&AG’s Report, para 2.5 13 early intervention or preventative services. For example, spending on the public health grant, used to fund preventative services such as alcohol and drug and children’s health services, fell in real terms by £846 million (21%).36 Local authority spending on late intervention services for children and young people (such as a looking after a child, safeguarding or youth justice services), rose from £8.5 billion to £12.1 billion, whilst spending on early interventions (such as family support) fell from £3.2 billion to £2.8 billion.37 MHCLG told us that at the same time as decreases in spend on children’s social care prevention, more children are entering the care system. Written evidence we received from Hampshire County Council stated that it spends around £26 million a year looking after 37 of the most vulnerable children in its care.38