LGA demands review of care system funding as cases soar
The Local Government Association this week called for a rethink of how the care system is funded, warning that the increasing number of children being taken into care will cost at least an additional £226m in the current financial year.
The rise in caseloads could threaten the future of other services intended to help all families, the LGA added.
The £226m figure was reached by combining extra court costs and the increased bill for the number of children in council care.
The LGA pointed to the latest Cafcass figures, which shows that the number of care referrals is stabilising at a higher level after the Baby Peter case. The association estimated that 2009/10 will see an overall rise of 32% in the number of care applications going through the courts, at a cost of £39m.
The number of children entering the care system for the first time also went up by 9% in 2008/9, adding £187m to the cost of the care population. The expectation is that these figures have increased significantly in the current period.
The LGA warned that the current situation is not sustainable in the long-term, and that schemes meant to prevent family break-up and to support children from poorer backgrounds might suffer.
Cllr Shireen Ritchie, chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, said: “The system which looks after children in care is feeling the strain – it was never designed to deal with the increase in numbers which we have experienced in the last year. It would be wrong to pretend that there is no cost involved in changing attitudes to child protection. There is a price to be paid, particularly if it means a reduction in the help and support councils can offer other families.
“There have been well-publicised arguments about whether social services should step in sooner and more frequently where children are thought to be at risk. If it is decided that, as a nation, we must play a bigger role in how families raise their children, there will have to be a debate about how to fund and manage a system which can do this properly.”
