Kent County Council has experienced a 41% cut in funding for early intervention since 2010, putting children in the county at risk.

The authority received £53,229,980 this year — which is a £21,718,593 reduction — to help tackle problems in families early on.

The figures were presented in a report by The Children's Society on young people's lives in the county, which also shows nationally early intervention funding will be cut by 71% — from £3.2bn to £939m — between 2010 and 2019.

The charity said: "This massive reduction means local authorities are less able to address the problems experienced by children and families at an early stage. Children suffer harm that could have been prevented and the state is faced with greater costs as they are forced to deal with more entrenched, serious and expensive problems at a later date."

The report also revealed the average amount given to local authorities in the south east for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services was £1,124,000 in 2014/15 — £175,000 more than the national average.

However, the average Clinical Commissioning Group spend on mental health for children in the region was £1,762,000 compared to the national average of £2,721,000.

The society identifies a particular vulnerability in 16 and 17 year olds who are not governed by the same laws as younger children.

It calls for more to be done to ensure a smooth transition between children's mental health services and services for adults, so young people don't 'fall through the cracks.'

The report, which also explores poverty in the county, says the families of 40,717 Kent children are in council tax debt, while 51,156 children are part of families in energy debt.

The figures are published a month after we reported how a quarter of Kent's children are living in poverty.

The full report can be viewed here.