Mapping expenditure in children's services: a method and findings from one region

Introduction: Across Europe many states are experiencing severe pressures on public services, both from escalating need and from diminishing budgets. As a result there is increasing interest in understanding how much is spent... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction: Across Europe many states are experiencing severe pressures on public services, both from escalating need and from diminishing budgets. As a result there is increasing interest in understanding how much is spent on services for children, and, importantly, to what effect. In spite of a requirement in Article 4 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child for states to establish a children's budget, progress has been slow.

Objective: As part of an approach to help public systems working with children increase their investment in evidence-based prevention and early intervention, the Dartington Social Research Unit has developed a method of mapping expenditure across all parts of children's services (education, social care, health, youth offending, early years). The aim is to: provide a strong foundation for discussions about the balance of expenditure (prevention, early intervention and treatment); identify opportunities for de-commissioning; and determine the extent to which money is spent on evidence-based interventions. In response to a request from the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and the Atlantic Philanthropies, the method was applied for the first time at a regional level. Previously it had been used only at local authority level.

Method: All government departments with an interest in children agreed to participate in the study. The research team worked closely with finance officers and department managers to analyse expenditure from the financial year 2012-13. Departments were asked to complete a series of fact sheets which then formed the basis of a series of interviews by the research team to test and clarify responses. Data were collected on: expenditure on services for all children and young people; service use (i.e the number of children using or benefiting from the service); levels of staffing; unit cost of services (where possible); the level of intervention (universal prevention, target early intervention or treatment/intervention for high level needs); and the use of ‘evidence-based programmes’. The analysis was shared with participating departments before being collated for publication. The research was undertaken in 2014 and 2015.

Results: The Northern Ireland government spent £2.28 billion (22% of the total public expenditure controlled by the Northern Ireland government) on services for the 432,000 children and young people in Northern Ireland. The majority of this expenditure was overseen by the Department of Education (72%) and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (21%). Just under one-fifth (19%) of expenditure funded treatment or maintenance services. The government departments had not directly funded or commissioned any evidence-based programmes.

Discussion: Despite it being an expectation of the UNCRC, few states are routinely producing a children’s budget. This study encountered a range of organisational barriers while undertaking the work, which would likely be encountered in other jurisidictions and may explain the slow progress. Data held at departmental level provided good insight into what was spent, but much less on how, and although extensive follow-up was undertaken, full interpretation of all budgets was not possible. That said, the work provides a valuable baseline in terms of total expenditure and the balance of expenditure on prevention and early intervention. The region has benefitted from a 10-year investment in evidence-based approaches by the Atlantic Philanthropies and it is hoped that it will have stimulated a long-term investment in such activities by government. A repeat of this exercise in two or more years would provide a valuable insight into the impact of philanthropic investment on government expenditure.