y September 2024. The bespoke survey included a mix of scaled and open-text questions. Interviews (34 interviews): Interviews were conducted by Research in Practice with directors of children’s services in 34 local authorities during July and August 2024. These data are contextualised with evidence from other sources to elucidate the pressures on families, communities, safeguarding services and their partners across local public services. This report is published in the first months of a new government, and many of their early policy commitments respond directly to issues outlined here. For instance, two areas of pressure that dominated discussions with DCSs as well as survey returns were the sufficiency, quality and cost of placements for children in care and the cost pressures in the 7 special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. Both have been the focus of new policy announcements. The pressures on child and family safeguarding and statutory protection and care are evidentially linked to the wider conditions in which children and families live and either survive or thrive. DCSs lead within social contexts that have put intense pressures on children, families and communities over the last two years. DCSs hold responsibilities within local systems of health, welfare, criminal and family justice, education, housing and adult services in which their hard levers to influence are limited and in which they may struggle to make heard the voices and needs of children and young people. Their powers to hold others to account do not match the weight of their responsibilities. The picture set out below is of DCSs and their teams doing their level best to provide what at times may be the only public service response to children and families, some of whom are in the de