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Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, responds to a report by the Education Policy Institute on unexplained pupil exits from schools.

“Every child should have a fair chance of getting into their parents’ preferred school and councils and schools work extremely hard to try and ensure that as many pupils as possible are allocated their first preference.”

Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, responds to latest ONS figures published today on teenage pregnancies in England and Wales for 2017.

Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the LGA's Children and Young People Board, responds to an announcement by the Government that it will develop a youth charter to support young people.

“Children’s services face a funding gap of £3.1 billion by 2025 while public health services, which also help children get the best start in life, have seen cuts of £700 million."

“Councils are absolutely determined to make sure that children get the best start in life, and it’s positive that some areas will receive funding to provide additional support to families and improve children’s early communication skills."

“The LGA has long-called for a register of children not in school and we look forward to seeing these proposals implemented as a matter of urgency."

Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, responds to Department for Education figures published today which show the proportion of state-funded schools in England over capacity has fallen.

Families face the prospect of seeing more children’s centres close in their community after figures analysed by the Local Government Association showed councils have been forced to cut their spending on the service by nearly a quarter in four years.

“While recent Ofsted reports have been clear that the quality of children’s services is continuing to improve across the country, we agree with the Committee that urgent action is needed to make the sector financially sustainable and ensure that all children are able to access the help they need, when they need it. “The LGA has long argued for a stronger cross-government commitment to children and families, and we are pleased that the Committee supports this. This lack of joined-up leadership within government has contributed to a situation where councils find themselves looking after record