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“We are pleased that the Government has listened to our call to extend the food voucher scheme to cover the Easter holidays."

"We are pleased that government has agreed that a significant amount of new hardship funding can be used flexibly by councils on local pressures and priorities, including on helping those who are most vulnerable."

“There are already an estimated 1.3 million young people entitled to free school meals, and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has meant that there are now a large number of families signing up to benefits."

"Today’s decision provides much needed clarity for head teachers, parents and families."

“People should never be in a position where they are worried about applying to the best school for their child because they’re worried about the cost of the uniform."

Cllr Judith Blake, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, responds to the NAO report on supporting disadvantaged families through free early education and childcare entitlements in England.

"This report reinforces our call for long-term investment in councils’ public health and early intervention services if we are to protect children’s health, and reaffirms the widening health inequalities we are seeing across the country."

Responding to the latest ONS figures published today on teenage pregnancies in England and Wales for 2018, which shows that the conception rate for women under 18 has decreased for the eleventh year in a row, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “The halving of teenage pregnancy rates over the last two decades is a tribute to the hard work of councils and their partners, in helping to improve the health, wellbeing and life chances of young people. “We need to build upon these achievements and tackle health inequalities in

Six of the 10 largest independent groups of providers of children’s residential and fostering placements had more debts and liabilities than tangible assets last year raising concerns about their viability, research published by the Local Government Association reveals today. The LGA, which represents councils across England and Wales, is concerned this is placing the stability of placements for children in care at risk, particularly as the private children’s social care providers offering the most homes for children increasingly operate using a private equity model which relies on large

Chair of the Local Government Association’s City Regions Board, Sir Richard Leese, responds to the Office for National Statistics figures on young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs).