Foster care costs leave council £17m over budget

This year, Bristol’s children social care department has spent 23% more than originally planned

Vulnerable children are being placed in unregistered foster homes and in the care of private companies due to an increase in demand, councillors have been told.

This year, Bristol City Council is paying an extra £17.8 million to external companies due to a shortage of council-owned care homes.

Hundreds of children are “looked after” by the council, either because they are orphans or their parents are unable to care for them.

A shortage of suitable placements means the council must either use non Ofsted-registered homes or pay private companies.

'Increasingly complex needs'

The number of children in external placements across Bristol has increased dramatically, rising from 220 before the pandemic to about 410 now.

Councillors on the strategy and resources policy committee were updated about the extra costs for children’s care on 12 August.

"We have had increased numbers of children in care, but that’s a national picture," said Fiona Tudge, the council's director of children and families.

"The costs of those children have increased, and we’ve seen children with increasingly complex needs."

Ms Tudge added the authority plans to increase the provision from 14 places to 36 over the next two years, although "that does take time".

"We need to identify the buildings, recruit staff and go through an Ofsted registration," she added.

However, the extra 22 places will only cover around 5% of the number of children currently in external placements.

Ofsted is even considering a criminal investigation into the council for illegally placing children in unregistered homes, although Ms Tudge previously said a prosecution would be “highly unlikely”.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, another reason for the reliance on private companies to care for children is a "dire lack of foster carers" in Bristol.

Ms Tudge said foster carers can benefit from grants to build extensions to create extra space to take in children, as well as hundreds of pounds in fees to cover the costs of providing a home.