gh turnover. (DCS, Metropolitan, West Midlands Region) But the reality is that it is the most difficult time in public service that I’ve ever experienced in [the many] years that I’ve been a public servant… unless there’s some amelioration of the finance issues, the indications are very alarming. (DCS, Unitary borough, London Region) The latest annual snapshot of DCS turnover shows 62 changes of postholder across 49 different local authorities in 2022–23, amongst the highest on record (ADCS, 2024a). The Staff College explored children’s services leadership turnover in which respondents cited siloed government working, a lack of focus on children in national policy, inspection and a ‘blame culture’ as factors contributing to churn (The Staff College, 2023). 12 2 Overview of safeguarding pressures on children and families’ lives Of the 86 SP9 survey respondents, 91% reported an increase in safeguarding contacts and referrals over the two-year period ending 31 March 2024, noting particular increases in contacts involving very young children and older adolescents. This section provides an overview of some of the issues identified in the SP9 data returns and the qualitative survey and interviews, connecting these with the longitudinal view across the previous phases of the SP series. 2.1 Child and family poverty Child and family poverty and community-level deprivation continued on the shameful upward trajectories of recent years over the SP9 period of enquiry (2022–23 and 2023–24). Increased rates of child poverty are well evidenced, with an estimated 4.3 million children living in poverty in 2022–23 compared with 3.6 million in 2010–11 (Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), 2024). At regional level, the most severe increases and the highest rates of child poverty (at or a