Devon council facing £6million overspend on children's social care

Residential placements for children in care are costing Torbay Council around £5,000 a week each, it has emerged

Residential placements for children in care are costing a Devon council around £5,000 a week each, it has emerged.

That is the figure for a typical case reported to councillors in Torbay where the children’s services department is facing an estimated overspend of £6.3million by the end of the year.

A report setting out the financial pressures facing the authority says the biggest issue is from children’s social care.

Overall the number of looked-after children fell by six over the six months to 351 at the end of September 2019. 

But the report adds that the number in residential placements was up from 28 a year ago to 44, and there has also been an increase in complex needs cases.

The report says: “Increases to placement numbers without a reduced demand elsewhere would further increase the service overspend as would any extensions of placements where there are planned end dates.”

It says the spending pressure on the services has gone up by more than £2m since June.

The report details savings across other services and a plan to move £3.6m from reserves to balance the books by the end of March 2020.

It reveals the council is spending £3.7m on agency staff for children’s services including to cover 44 vacant posts at the end of September.

Previous figures have shown Torbay has had one of the highest rates of looked-after children in the country.

A new improvement plan for children’s social care in Torbay aims to achieve a ‘good’ rating by April 2021.

Torbay Council was served with improvement notices in 2011 and 2012 and its children's services were judged inadequate in 2016.

The authority’s children’s services ended the last financial year overspent by £5m, on top of a £3m increase in funding the previous year.

Councils across the country are facing increased costs caused by more looked-after children and the rising cost of complex cases.

In Torbay, children’s services accounts for around a third of the council’s £111m spending.

The finance update report for July to September - the second quarter of the financial year - is due to be considered by the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Board on Wednesday, December 11.