Wokingham children put in care hundreds of miles from home

Children in Wokingham have been sent to homes in Leicestershire, Norfolk and Kent

Vulnerable children have been housed in private care homes hundreds of miles away from home, new data has revealed.

Young people in Wokingham, Berkshire, have been sent as far as Lancashire, Yorkshire and North Wales.

The borough council said it was due to a lack of suitable accommodation in the local area.

It cost the authority more than £6m between April 2022 and October 2023, figures showed.

Data obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service showed the council paid more than £350,000 to one private provider in Preston, about £100,000 to First4Care which runs homes in Doncaster and upwards of £250,000 to Life Change Care in east Lancashire.

'Vast profits'

Money was also paid to children's care homes in Norfolk, Kent, Hampshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Wales.

Councillor Prue Bray, responsible for children's care in Wokingham, said she wanted the authority to open more of its own homes.

She said: "There will always be some children who need really specialist care but at the moment we are one of a large number of authorities who have found ourselves with children where there's no place for them anywhere in the country.

"If you've got a child in that situation, the nearest place might be Scotland or Wales - just horrendous."

It can cost tens of thousands of pounds a week to house a child with a private firm, with many operating from hedge funds and making "vast" profits, the council said.

The authority has bought three properties in Earley and Arborfield which it plans to open as homes for children.

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