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Rise in children taken into care pushes 88% of councils over budget
Frances Perraudin & Niamh McIntyre, The Guardian 8th January 2019
Almost nine out of 10 local authorities in England overspent on children’s social care in the last financial year, as the rising number of children taken into care put extra pressure on budgets.
Analysis by the Guardian and the Local Government Association (LGA) found that 133 out of 152 councils (88%) responsible for children’s services overspent in 2017-18. Local authorities went over budget on children’s social care by an estimated £807m, by far the highest area of overspending in council budgets.
The number of children being taken into care stands at a 10-year high. Government data published in November found that there were 75,420 looked-after children in England at the end of March, up 4% on the previous year. The number has increased every year since 2008, when the total was about 60,000.