Counties issue warning over £317m overspend on children's services after rise in number needing care

Some 80% of county councils overspent on their children’s services budget last year, in the face of a surge in numbers of young people requiring care after the pandemic.

The County Councils Network (CCN) called the situation “unsustainable” and said 30 out of 36 counties overspent collectively by £317m.

Its analysis found between 2020-21 and 2021-22 there were more than 20,000 extra referrals - equivalent to 8.8% - compared with a decrease of 1,400 year-on-year between 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Councils said referrals continued to remain high due to the cost-of-living crisis.

CCN said in County Spotlight: Children’s Services that although the government’s reform package in children’s social care included an extra £200m investment in preventative and family services, the numbers of children in care left council leaders warning even the increased funding remained inadequate.

The report found the number of children in local authority care in county areas increased by 1,079 over the post-pandemic period, a 10.1% year-on-year rise.

Directly before the pandemic there had been a decrease of 140 children requiring local authority care in 2019-20.

Nationally, the number of children in council care is at a record high of 82,167 in 2021-22 – up from 66,180 in 2011-12.

At the same time, the number of foster carers has fallen dramatically, the CCN said, with applications for this role down from 5,095 in 2020-21 to 3,665 in 2021-22.

Keith Glazier, CCN children’s services spokesperson, said: “These concerning figures illustrate once again the impact of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis on vulnerable families. The latest figures show a surge in referrals, as well as higher numbers of children being taken into care.

“Faced with this spike in demand, most councils in county areas have had little choice but to overspend on their children’s services budgets to protect young people.”

Cllr Glazier said the overspending was “unsustainable” and councils faced a “vicious circle where scarce funds are prioritised towards young people in crisis”.

He added: “£200m committed to reforming services does not go far enough, and we are calling on the next government to prioritise greater investment into early help and family services.”

Mark Smulian