Council overspends on children’s services by £6.6m

Fewer children are being taken into care in Blackpool

Caring for vulnerable children cost a Lancashire council £6.6m more than expected last year despite a drop in the number of children living in care, new figures show.

A report setting out Blackpool Council’s position at the end of the 2023/24 financial year shows children’s services overspent once more, largely due to a rise in the cost of residential placements of nearly 8%.

Overall the council overspent by about £8m on delivering services, but better financial performances in other areas mean it was able to stay within the £172m set out in last year’s budget.

An extra £4m of council tax was collected during 2023/24 partly due to a rise of 5% in the amount residents have to pay.

Overall the council overspent by about £8m on delivering services

The total amount of council tax collected in the last financial year was £61.84m and the collection rate was 88.97% compared to £57.76m and 88.88% at the same point in 2022/23.

But the main pressure on spending was once more from adult and children’s services, with an overspend of about £2m in adult services and £6.6m in children’s services.

The number of children currently living in care is 529, compared to 540 in July last year and 651 at the same time in 2022.

Fewer children are being taken into care, and more have been able to leave the system.

But a report to the executive committee warns the number of residential placements has increased compared to the expected figure of 60 which has put pressure on spending.

The report says: “There has been movement in the numbers of residential placements, from 84 to 76 as a result of a focused, ongoing piece of work led by the newly recruited head of service for supporting our children.

“Reviews of a number of care plans has resulted in children being moved from residential settings to settings that better meet their needs, always ensuring their safety and individual needs are at the forefront when planning.”

However, some savings have been made by relying less on agency staff for social workers.