Children's and Education Services
Our annual budget for 2020/21 is £118.8m.
These services are a mix of activity, organisations and partnerships that improve the lives and futures of Manchester’s children and young people. They include Early Help to reduce the number of children in care, children’s social care, child protection, youth services, and adoption and fostering as well as education and special educational needs.
Despite successes, there are pressures such as Manchester’s growing population and more pupils in Manchester schools.
We also expect budget pressures for Children’s Services to increase as Family Courts resume discharges from care and more cases are dealt with. We anticipate pent-up demand from the COVID-19 period, bringing increased vulnerability in the community, such as family poverty, domestic violence and mental health impacts.
We are likely to see an increase in referrals to children's services of about 9% next year, costing £3.4m in 2021/22.
See the full report- Item 5e