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“These worrying figures underline the huge number of children and families in need of help and support, and emphasises the colossal challenge facing councils and their partners as they try to address growing levels of need with rapidly diminishing resources."

For many young people, it is a vital part of their education and future life opportunities, but this could be at risk unless the Government commits to fully funding the pay increase for all classroom teachers, including music teachers.

“Councils across the country work hard to ensure children and young people can access the support they need, however with children’s services facing a £3 billion funding gap by 2025, this is getting increasingly difficult.' 

"Today’s announcement to increase the amount that employers can transfer of their Levy contribution is a positive sign that the Government is listening to council concerns around the need for flexibility to ensure the Levy is genuinely effective."

"To make sure every school is adequately funded, the Government should provide greater certainty over future funding by introducing three-year budgets, and ensure that the overall level is sufficient for all schools."

"We have previously warned that unless councils are given the funding to meet this need, they may not be able to meet their statutory duties and children with high needs or disabilities could miss out on a mainstream education."

More than half of all councils in England are at risk of not being able to meet demand for secondary school places, according to new analysis by the LGA.

Cllr Nick Forbes, Senior Vice Chair of the Local Government Association, responds to a survey by YouGov commissioned by Playbrush showing that three in five parents in Britain say their children brush their teeth for 90 seconds or less, below the two minutes recommended by dentists.

Vice Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, Cllr Roy Perry, responds to The Children’s Society’s annual Good Childhood Report, which examines the state of children’s well-being in the UK.

“We are pleased that the Government’s strategy has placed youth services back on the agenda, and we look forward to working with them on the review of youth services guidance in light of the increasingly challenging context that councils are working in."