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New money for the Children's Fund, announced in chancellor Gordon Brown's July comprehensive spending review statement, is to be spent on developing identification, referral and tracking procedures for every child and young person at risk of offending, drug-taking and teenage pregnancy.

The funding, worth £600m over three years, takes effect from April next year. The government's original settlement for the Children's Fund was worth £450m over the three years from 2002-2004.

John Denham, minister for children and young people, said the Children's Fund had proved its worth in its first 17 months, but warned that agencies were still failing to share information to assist the provision of services to children and young people at risk.


The fund will continue to tackle social exclusion and poverty. The new money will enable small grants to be provided through the local network fund for projects helping children and young people up to 19 years old at risk of social exclusion. The cash will also help to promote youth participation in government.