Stuart Anderson MP is delighted that Wolverhampton has become one of six local authorities to join 15 local authorities who have achieved ‘Earned Autonomy’ status as part of the Government’s £695 million ‘Supporting Families’ programme. The status is a boost to the Council’s support for families facing, multiple, interconnected problems, including unemployment, poor school attendance, mental and physical health problems as well as involvement in crime and anti-social behaviour, domestic abuse, and children in need of help and protection.
In the last year, Wolverhampton has achieved 631 successful outcomes for local families. Across the country, 77,203 families have been supported to achieve a successful family outcome. This means that, since April 2015, more than 612,000 vulnerable families have been given help and support to improve their lives through the programme. The programme has proven successful in preventing high cost-statutory intervention, with the proportion of children going into care down by a third; the proportion of adults receiving custodial sentences down by a quarter; and the number of juveniles receiving custodial sentences down by almost 40%.
Stuart has now welcomed the new status for Wolverhampton, which means that all funding is provided up front. It is a progression from Payment by Results for areas who have reached a defined standard of maturity with their Early Help system. It is based on recognition that Wolverhampton is comfortably exceeding minimum numbers for successful family outcomes; has met data milestones in sign up conditions; is working on reporting all issues and outcomes; and displays strong evidence that whole family working is an essential element of practice and that family voice informs service delivery.
Stuart Anderson MP said: “Having helped over six hundred families in need over the last year, I am delighted Wolverhampton has achieved ‘Earned Autonomy’ status as part of the Government’s £695 million Supporting Families programme. This means the Council will now receive upfront funding to support families complex challenges, helping them to become more resilient and enabling them to thrive. Early support for families will also prevent the need for high cost-statutory intervention.”
Programme funding for 2023-24 was £181,645,127. This funding is a part of a total of up to £695 million for 2022-2025. This includes a £200 million uplift in funding across 2022-2025 compared to the previous Spending Review period.
