‘Astronomical’ rise in cost of children’s social care placements draining council coffers

The number of children’s social care placements costing £10,000 or more per week has risen 1,150 per cent in five years, a survey of English councils by the Local Government Association (LGA) has revealed.

There were 120 high-cost placements in 2018/19, rising to 1,510 in 2022/23. And the proportion of councils with at least one of these placements has increased from 23 per cent to 91 per cent over the same period.

The highest cost placement was £63,000 a week. For most councils the highest cost was between £9,600 and £32,500 a week. 

Approximately £4.7 billion was spent on children’s social care placements in 2022-3, compared to a budgeted figure of £4.1 billion – an overspend of £670 million, or 16 per cent. For 2023-4, the overspend is estimated to rise to £680 million. The average overspend per council is £4.4 million.

Nearly every council (98 per cent) surveyed said a lack of choice in placements was driving high prices.

Over nine in ten (93 per cent) councils also highlighted children needing help with increasingly complex needs, including mental health needs or exhibiting challenging behaviours.

The findings come from an online survey of directors of children’s services in England run in October and November 2023. 

It found high-cost placements tended to be emergency rather than planned placements, and the most frequent factors cited as driving the high cost of certain placements were a lack of choice in providers, children in care exhibiting challenging behaviours, and complex or significant mental health needs.

The LGA says the data demonstrates that the market for children’s social care placements is “broken” and says there is a need for urgent investment in provision that can best meet children’s needs.

The association set out three key areas for government action:

• Roll out planned Department for Education programmes on the recruitment and retention of foster carers to all councils
• Expansion of children’s homes through capital investment, recruitment and professional development of children’s homes workers and working with the voluntary and community sector
• Work with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England on both inpatient mental health facilities (the number of inpatient mental health beds for teenagers fell by 20 per cent between 2017 and 2022) and joint delivery of placements for children with complex mental health needs

Figures published earlier this month show there were 83,840 looked after children in England – the highest number on record.

The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care recommended an investment of £2.6 billion over four years to reform the children’s social care system but to date, the government has only committed £200 million over two years. 

In its response Children's Social Care: Stable Homes Built on Love, the government backed the care review’s proposal to transfer responsibility for the commissioning of care placements from individual councils to regional care co-operatives.

As yet, however, no local authority has taken up the call.

Cllr Louise Gittins, chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “These findings are indicative of a broken market for children’s social care placements.

“The astronomical costs of care placements mean there is less money available for councils to spend on earlier support for children and families.

“But it doesn’t have to remain this way. With cross-government support, it is possible to make sure we have the right homes for all of the children in our care.

“With more children needing help with increasingly complex and challenging needs, what is most important is ensuring they get the best care and support. It is concerning that in many cases, a lack of choice means provision is not fully meeting children’s needs.”