........................................................... 84 4 Foreword In March 2024, ADCS published a policy position paper called Childhood matters, which attempted to articulate the impact of austerity on children, young people and families as well as the vital public services they rely on. It was an update to the 2017 policy paper A country that works for all children. Sadly, in the intervening years precious little had changed and too many things had gone in reverse, from rising levels of child poverty and numbers of families needing our help and support to an increasingly difficult fiscal picture for local authorities. Summer 2024 brought a snap general election and a new government. The first Autumn Budget brought some welcome investment for children and children’s services. However, we need sustained, long-term investment for all local authorities, not just some, and a plan and vision for childhood and beyond. This was the central premise in Childhood matters. The ninth phase of this longitudinal research covers the period April 2022 up to the end of March 2024. It shows some changes in safeguarding activity which have not previously been seen, or not to the extent currently being seen. Several common threads emerged across data submissions and interviews with leaders from local authorities right across the country, including the ongoing and unaddressed impact of the pandemic on children, young people and families. This is visible in increased mental health needs, rising school exclusions and delayed development in the youngest children who were born during the pandemic and started school this year. Leaders raised a number of concerns about housing, from access to affordable, good quality housing, the use of temporary accommodation, overcrowding and an increa