NEARLY £400,000 has been awarded to fund services that support children across Leeds.

Leeds City Council’s Children’s Services has won a £390,000 funding bid from the Department for Education in recognition of the good practice it has shown throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest funding, to be used by the end of March, 2021 will allow the authority to build on the progress it has already been making in a number of areas including:

*Addressing food poverty

*Supporting mental health

*Providing a additional focus on supporting early intervention

The money has come via the Partners in Practice programme - a partnership between national and local government that was set up in an effort to ‘understand, capture and spread excellence’.

Leeds’ Children’s Services was selected to become a partner in 2016 in recognition of the city’s innovative approach to working with children and families.

Its selection on was also based on the department’s Good Ofsted rating, which has since been upgraded to Outstanding.

Leeds City Council’s Executive Member for Children and Families, Councillor Fiona Venner, said: “In Leeds our outstanding Children’s Services have a strong track record in attracting innovation funding and we welcome this short term grant.

“Despite unprecedented pressures on local government finances over the past decade we’ve remained committed to investing in Early Help – to ensure families receive support as soon as they need it.

“This funding helps us to keep championing that approach which has been key to improving outcomes for families, safely reducing the number of children in care – bucking the national trend.

“During the pandemic our fantastic workforce has adapted to changed ways of working, using innovative approaches to provide high quality services to families.

“This funding will help strengthen our support for families through our Early Help clusters, to mitigate poverty, and to add to the delivery of services that have a positive protective impact on our communities.”

The activities to be funded by the Partners in Practice award will include:

*A £200,000 drive to support families who have been affected by COVID-19

*£40,000 to provide additional outreach support for young people at risk of crime and poor outcomes

*And £30,000 for additional mental health support.

A pilot welfare rights approach in Early Help hubs will also be supported by £20,000.