Funding of children's care services 'unsustainable'

Increased demand and financial pressures mean council care services will not be sustainable in future, a Welsh Local Government Association spokesman has said.

The latest figures show Welsh councils' overall spend on looked-after children trebled from £76m in 2001-02 to £256m this year.

The WLGA said it was due to increased demand, complex care needs and out-of-area placements.

Councillor Geraint Hopkins, the WGLA's deputy spokesman for children, said some councils' care services were "on borderline crisis".