Lack of access to public transport and the internet is leaving children in remote, rural communities facing “prolonged isolation, exclusion and insecurity”, a report warns.

Children in remote rural and coastal communities “have been overlooked for too long”, according to the Centre for Mental Health.

Its report, funded by BBC Children in Need, found that eight to 13-year-olds are struggling to get mental health support because of poor transport, digital connectivity and a lack of safe spaces to meet.

We need to take action now to ensure no child’s mental health is put at risk because of where they live.

Rural areas often appear to be “poorly served” by specialist services, the report entitled The Space Between Us found.

It is calling for more funding for local councils to invest in digital infrastructure for places with limited connectivity, to develop peer support services and invest in parks, schools and community centres.

Centre for Mental Health deputy chief executive Andy Bell said: “Children in remote rural and coastal communities have been overlooked for too long.

“While rural life can be good for mental health, children growing up in poverty, with disability or in a marginalised or oppressed community face a high risk of poor mental health with little support close to home.

“Without access to public transport or digital connection, children face prolonged isolation, exclusion and insecurity.

Blackpool council has said it will invest an extra £14m in its beleaguered children’s services by axing up to 75 jobs and raising council taxes.

Since 2012, the council has received several “inadequate” ratings from Ofsted. The most recent inspection raised concerns vulnerable children were being left at risk of “significant harm” including from sexual exploitation and going missing.

Figures show the cost of all social care in Blackpool accounts for more than three-quarters of local authority spending. Budget proposals for the forthcoming financial year show cuts of £5m, which mean savings of £19.6m must be found across all services when the funding for children’s services is factored in.

The council has announced that up to 75 jobs will be lost, while council tax is expected to rise by the maximum 4% allowed by the government.

In January last year, children’s social care in the Lancashire resort was deemed inadequate because of “key weaknesses” in support services. The inspection report also found that some children were left to “live in situations of chronic neglect for long periods of time”.

Parents are finding it difficult to access GP appointments to vaccinate their children, a phenomenon which has contributed to a fall in immunisation rates, the Whitehall spending watchdog has found.

The National Audit Office (NAO) warns of an inconsistent system for calling children for vaccines – especially among “under-served” groups, such as travellers, who have a lower vaccination uptake.

NHS England missed the 95 per cent uptake target for nearly all routine pre-school jabs in 2018-19, following a general downward trend since 2012-13.

Just 86.4 per cent of children had had the full dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab by the age of five in 2018-19, which is below the World Health Organisation’s 95 per cent target.

The timing and availability of GP appointments, as well as childcare pressures, are some of the possible reasons for falling pre-school vaccination rates, the NAO report says.

The funding crisis in special needs education is deepening, with council overspends on support for children with conditions including autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder rising by 30% in just a year, the Observer can reveal.

Figures sourced under the Freedom of Information Act from 118 of the 151 local authorities in England show that councils are expecting to overspend their high needs block budgets by £288m in 2019-20 – up from £232m in 2018-19. When money raided from mainstream schools budgets is included, however, these figures rise to £315m in 2018-19 and nearly £410m this year – a rise of almost 30% in the space of 12 months.

The high needs block is government funding that supports children with higher cost needs. Children with moderate special needs are funded via mainstream schools budgets.

In the latest sign of the cash crisis that continues to plague local authorities, the research suggests there has been an increase in the number of children in councils whose services are classed as either inadequate or requiring improvement.

The findings, in a study by the Social Market Foundation thinktank, were condemned by Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, who said people would be shocked by the figures.

The SMF said it was “shameful” that 48,723 children were currently being looked after in local authorities whose services are deemed to be falling short.

In 2018, there were 47,085 “looked-after children” in such councils.

However, council leaders said it was unfair to suggest councils whose services require improvement were failing.

Longfield said: “The government has to put this right. These most vulnerable kids have had the toughest start in life and rely on the state for nearly every aspect of their life.

“We might imagine from the news that potholes, street lights and bin collections are what councils are for, but looking after these vulnerable children properly is one of their most important roles, and government must make sure councils make it the best experience they possibly can, part of which is funding them properly to do so. At the moment they aren’t, and too often it isn’t.”

The SMF is calling on ministers to establish a “charter for looked-after children”, designed to raise the standards of care and close the gap in outcomes between children who have been in care and those who have not. The number of looked-after children in England has been rising for several years. In 2013, there were 68,070, and by 2018 75,420.

The SMF found that 65% of all looked-after children in England were in council areas where services needed to improve.

Its report also reveals that nearly 40% of care leavers in England aged 19-21 were out of education, employment or training. And only 17.5% of pupils in care achieved A*-C in both English and maths GCSE. This compares with almost 60% of children who were not in care. Some 42% of children in young offender institutions were in care.

The care system in England is struggling to cope with rising demand from teenagers, the children’s commissioner has said.

New research produced by the commissioner’s office found the number of children in care aged 13 or over rose by 21% between 2013 and 2018, while the number aged five or under fell by 15%.

The study showed there were 25% more over-16s entering care during 2017/18 than 2013/14, a bigger increase than for any other age group. As a result, nearly a quarter of children in care (23%) are now over 16. A further two-fifths (39%) are aged 10 to 15.

Anne Longfield, who was appointed children’s commissioner for England in 2015, warned that services were struggling to cope with the growth of teenagers in the care system because they were more likely to have vulnerabilities that required specialist support.

Compared with under-13s, teenagers in care are significantly more likely to be vulnerable to sexual exploitation, running away from home, gangs, trafficking and drug misuse.

 “There are an increasing number of teenage children in the care system and too many of them are ‘pinballing’ around the system, changing home and family, school and social worker,” she said.

“Often they have the most complex and expensive needs. In one local authority, 20% of the entire children’s services budget is being spent on just 10 children. This is completely unsustainable.”

Children and young people with serious mental health problems are receiving treatment as far as 285 miles away from their homes, despite a pledge to end such practice, because bed shortages in some areas are so severe.

Experts say sending highly troubled under-18s to units far from their family and friends can be frightening for them, reduces their chances of recovery and increases their risk of self-harm.

In all, 1,039 children and adolescents in England were admitted to a non-local bed in 2017-18, in many cases more than 100 miles from home, figures collated by NHS England show. Many had complex mental health problems that often involve a risk of self-harm or suicide, such as severe depression, eating disorders, psychosis and personality disorders.

Patients from Canterbury, in Kent, were sent 285 miles for inpatient mental health care, those from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly 258 miles and those from Bristol 243 miles.

Bed shortages meant that in 119 of the NHS’s 195 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) at least one patient under-18 was sent out of the area for care last year, the statistics show.

Ministers are facing demands for emergency funds to protect thousands of vulnerable children after figures revealed that child social care services plunged more than £800m into the red in a single year.

In the latest sign of the cash crisis engulfing councils across England, senior local government figures now warn that children’s services are reaching a tipping point as the numbers needing help continue to grow and budgets continue to shrink.

The Observer understands that the Treasury was repeatedly approached for more funding by concerned ministers before the last budget, but the requests were turned down. Theresa May has also been warned by MPs that unless action is taken the funding crisis could cause another tragedy like the Baby P scandal of 2007.

Figures show that, last year alone, councils in England had to spend £816m more on children’s social care than they had budgeted for. It means that spending on children’s social care has increased at a faster rate than any other area that councils oversee.

According to the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents 370 councils, there is now real pressure on attempts by councils to keep children safe from harm.

The annual number of referrals to children’s social care has increased by 100,000 children in a decade. The number of child protection plans, which assess their risk of harm and find ways to ensure their safety, is up by 23,000. The number of children in care is up 12,000 in a decade.

The government has been handed an internal report into the causes of the increasing numbers, but ministers have refused demands to publish its findings.

A former Mothercare director has sparked fury over her plans to turn a 500-year-old Grade II listed village pub into a children’s nursery.

Fiona Murray-Young submitted proposals to change the use of the Swan Pub in Ley Hill, Buckinghamshire, causing concern among some residents who fear excessive noise and swarms of traffic in the village.

Retired medical researcher and resident Sarah Peterson said: ‘‘Everybody is up in arms because the noise that would be generated from having children playing is quite substantial.

“The other thing is, the pub doesn’t have a car park, it will be an absolute nightmare. ‘

Children with special educational needs require “significant, on-going and sustainable” funding building on from the government’s £50m pledge announced today, councillors have warned.

The Conservatives announced the boost to create additional school places and up-to-date facilities for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The plans are in addition to the £215m fund announced last year to ensure children with SEND could access a good school place.

The surge in funds could help create around 740 more special school places and provide new specialist facilities to support children with complex needs such as specialist equipment in playgrounds and sensory rooms.

Whilst councillors have welcomed the plans, they have argued the move should be continual and a sustained form of funding to meet rising levels of demand. They are calling for an urgent review of funding to meet the “unprecedented” rise in demand for support for children with SEND.

Cllr Richard Watts, chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Councils have been clear that there is a need to provide additional and ongoing funding to support children with special educational needs and disabilities so we are pleased that they will receive this additional funding.

“However,” Cllr Watts continued, “this should not be a one-off cash injection and needs to be significant, on-going and sustainable funding, otherwise councils may not be able to meet their statutory duties and many children could miss out on a mainstream education.”