CHILDREN'S SERVICES

Directors call for more cash to tackle roots of domestic abuse

The president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services has called on the Government to provide councils with sustainable funding so that they can invest in the prevention of the domestic abuse of children.

The president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services has called on the Government to provide councils with sustainable funding so that they can invest in the prevention of the domestic abuse of children.

Alison Michalska was reacting to a report on domestic violence published by Ofsted, which noted that too little is being done to prevent domestic abuse.

Inspectors, inlcuding from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, conducted investigations in Bradford, Hampshire, Hounslow, Lincolnshire, Salford and Wiltshire to evaluate the response to cases of domestic abuse of children.

The report noted that more work needed to be done to prevent abuse from occurring and provide sufficient aftercare for victims, including access to child and adolescent mental health services.

It read: ‘While much good work is being done to protect children and victims far too little is being done to prevent domestic abuse and repair the damage that it causes.'

Ms Michalska recognised that the scale of domestic violence across the country meant that authorities spent all their resources on protecting children from immediate harm instead of on prevention.

She called on the Government to provide councils with the funding needed to do this.

Ms Michalska said: ‘The report rightly highlights the need for a long-term strategy to reduce the prevalence of domestic abuse, but we will not see the necessary shift from intervention at the point of crisis to prevention that we need to see without sufficient, sustainable funding from government. 

'The Government must lead this endeavour from the front as a matter of urgency.'

CHILDREN'S SERVICES

Proud to serve the sector

By Louise Gittins | 03 July 2025

Writing in LGA Conference week, newly re-elected chair Cllr Louise Gittins reflects on the Government’s key announcements and says council leaders must have ...

CHILDREN'S SERVICES

Central and local government will transform the country for the better

By Jim McMahon | 03 July 2025

Writing in the week of the LGA Conference, Jim McMahon and Georgia Gould say this government was elected to deliver a decade of national renewal, and this si...

CHILDREN'S SERVICES

Relieving the pressure on public finances

By Piali Das Gupta | 03 July 2025

Local government must be properly resourced for any new duties it is tasked with, writes Piali Das Gupta.

CHILDREN'S SERVICES

Experts call for slice of AI cash

By Dan Peters | 02 July 2025

Councils should get a share of the £2bn announced for artificial intelligence (AI) in the Spending Review, experts have suggested.

Popular articles by Hiba Mahamadi