Wirral Council pays £42K a week to firm for child's care - councillor

The government should step in to stop private firms charging exorbitant fees, says councillor Chris Carubia

A councillor has condemned the "huge profits" being made by private childcare firms after revealing a local authority was paying £42,000 a week for one child under its protection.

Wirral councillor Chris Carubia said the figure was the highest he knew of, as he called on the government to regulate childcare placement costs.

He said it was needed to prevent private firms "setting exorbitant fees" as council costs were "spiralling".

The BBC has contacted the government.

The authority has spent nearly £28m on the children in its care in 2023 which, according to the councillor, equates to an average of £5,887 a week for a placement in a children's home, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Mr Carubia, the vice chairman of the children's committee and deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said private companies were "benefitting from huge profits made off the backs of our most vulnerable children in care".

Post Covid-19 demand

He argued councils needed "significant additional funding" amid "spiralling" costs, adding he was aware of several cases where costs were between £30,000 and £35,000 due to the child having more complex needs.

According to a council report published in June before a children's and education committee, increases of children in care with post-Covid-19 demand and rising costs was putting pressure on children's services.

The rising costs are despite a decrease in the total number of children the council cares for.

In March 2023, 766 children were in care, compared to 821 in March 2021.

Mr Carubia has put forward a motion for a meeting on 9 October calling for the council to write to Education Secretary Gillian Keegan to ask the government regulate the sector and private children's homes.

"There is no legislation to limit or put a cost on what you can charge for a placement.

"They can put a tax on petrol and they can put limits on certain things. Why haven't they don't that with children's care?"

Wirral Council is running a "ground-breaking" pilot with Juno CIC to set up four children's homes, councillor Chris Carubia says

In February, the government announced a revamp of children's social care with £200m extra funding over two years.

The changes saw an increase in foster parent allowances as well as a recruitment and retention programme.

However, a recent budget report stated the council likely faces bankruptcy in three years and the councillor said the growing demand for social care for both adults and children "cannot be sustained".

Mr Carubia said the council was ahead of the curve in some aspects of its provision for children in care, particularly with its "ground-breaking" trial with not-for-profit organisation Juno CIC, to set up four care homes for children as well as avoiding placing children in care far away from the area.

The Department for Education has been contacted for a response.

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