Government plots green paper on early intervention
Ruth Smith
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The Department for Children, Schools and Families is planning a green paper on early intervention and prevention, CYP Now has learned.
According to a source close to Children's Secretary Ed Balls, it will be published after the party conference season in October or November and will complement the families green paper, due to come out at the same time.
The source added that the green paper is designed to help directors of children's services make the economic case for investing in early intervention.
In June, Paul, Ennals, chief executive of the National Children's Bureau, warned that preventative services are already suffering because of the recession and political uncertainty.
Last week, Les Lawrence, chair of the Local Government Association's children and young people's board, warned that children's services leaders would have to start defending their budgets to other local authority leaders as councils enter a period of tough negotiations on where to spend already stretched budgets.
