WQ85903 (e) Wedi’i gyflwyno ar 17/08/2022

A wnaiff y Gweinidog ddarparu ffigurau ar (a) y swm a wariwyd a (b) nifer y plant o dan 18 oed sydd wedi cael cymorth gan wasanaethau ymyrraeth gynnar i deuluoedd sy'n wynebu trallod, yn enwedig Teuluoedd yn Gyntaf ac IAA, a gwasanaethau ymyrraeth argyfwng fel gwasanaethau ar ffiniau gofal a gwasanaethau amddiffyn plant?

Wedi'i ateb gan Y Dirprwy Weinidog Gwasanaethau Cymdeithasol | Wedi'i ateb ar 25/08/2022

The Welsh Government is continuing to prioritise the provision of early intervention services for families who are facing adversity and/or have children who may be on the edge of care. We are working with our partners including the third sector and local authorities to help ensure this support is provided to these families.

Edge of Care Services

Since 2017-18, the Welsh Government has provided £5m recurrent funding to local authorities to establish or enhance existing edge of care services and all 22 local authorities now have services in place.

Information received from local authorities indicated that in the first year of implementation these edge of care services supported over 3,600 children to remain within the family unit.

Our current Programme for Government also has a commitment to ‘Provide additional specialist support for children with complex needs who may be on the edge of care’.

Regional Partnership Boards, using the Regional Integration Fund, are now initiating 13 projects where ‘Supporting families to stay together safely and therapeutic support for care experienced children’ is the primary model of care. The total investment put forward to fund these projects is currently around £14,600,000, which is circa. 12% of the total Regional Integration Fund allocation for 2022/23.  Regional Partnership Boards have also referenced a further 31 projects that will contribute to the successful development and implementation of that model of care.

Families First and Flying Start

Funding for Families First and Flying Start is part of the Children and Communities Grant (CCG).  As such, local authorities have flexibility to determine the level of investment in the programme but must deliver the expected outcomes set out by the CCG.  The total amount spent by local authorities since the start of the CCG are set out below.

                         

 

Families First Spend

Flying Start Spend

                   

2019/20

£34,580,999

£77,533,040

                   

2020/21

£46,675,881

£66,470,005

                   

2021/22

£50,801,326

£68,437,598

                   

Total

£132,058,206

£212,440,644

                   

Families First is a service for the whole family, therefore, data is collected about family engagement rather than children. Latest verified data shows that during 2017-18, almost 13,000 families were referred through Families First for a strengths-based assessment of families’ needs.  Of these, almost 6,500 families completed the assessment, with nearly 4,500 families going on to receive intensive support through a ‘Team Around the Family’.  Those families whose level of need did not require a full assessment will have been signposted to alternative sources of help.  Data from 2019 onwards will be published in the coming months.                                                        

Flying Start was launched in 2006, the target to double the reach of Flying Start to 36,000 children by 2016 was met a year early when the programme delivered to 37,260 children in 2014-15.  

Despite disruption to Flying Start during the pandemic, 31,832 children benefited from its services in 2020-21.  More than a quarter of children in Wales, under the age of 4 benefit from the programme.  As set out in the Programme for Government, Flying Start is expanding from September 2022 to reach a further 2,500 children under four as the first part of a phased expansion.

Child Protection

In terms of child protection services, there were 21,657 initial strategy meetings in 2020/21, of which 13,273 resulted in Section 47 enquiries and of those 4,259 ended up with an Initial Child Protection Conference. 3,868 children were subsequently placed on the Child Protection Register.

Information, Advice and Assistance

Below are published figures relating to children and families supported by social services. 

  • In 2020/21, there were 176,408 children contacts with children’s social services. Of which, 70,572 were provided with support from advice or assistance services.
  • There were 47,950 assessments of these children and young people completed. Of these assessments, 8,430 children were found to have needs which required a care and support plan and 29,467 were able to have their needs met through other means. These other means included:
    • provision of information, advice and assistance;
    • provision of preventative services;
    • needs, can be met, wholly or in part by the individuals themselves (with or without the assistance of others);
    • other matters can contribute to the achievement of the personal outcomes, or otherwise meet the needs.

The StatsWales website also publishes social services revenue outturn expenditure by client group (£ thousand) tables.  These can be accessed on the link below.

https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Local-Government/Finance/Revenue/Social-Services/social-services-socialservicesrevenueexpenditure-by-clientgroup