A councillor has called for members of the public to be shown the full extent of some of the pressures faced by care services in the Vale of Glamorgan. Vale of Glamorgan Council learning and culture scrutiny committee member Cllr Helen Payne made her comments after she and her scrutiny committee colleagues were told the local authority has been known to spend up to £500,000 a year on single placements for children it looks after.
At a meeting of the scrutiny committee on Monday, January 7, a report presented to members said councils face “considerable challenges in managing their overall children looked after populations” and that meeting the needs of some children places pressure on budgets. It goes on to add that the number of children with complex needs is increasing.
Vale of Glamorgan Council’s operational manager for placements and permanency team, Karen Conway, said the enduring impact of Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis are playing a part in the demand for services. During the scrutiny committee meeting Cllr Payne said she would be interested in having a case study of a child’s journey in council care brought before her and her colleagues at a future meeting. For more stories, sign up to our newsletter here.
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She said: “I think it would be really interesting for scrutiny and for the public to see: 1) the pressure we are under as a local authority… and; 2) the intricacies of the care and provision that we provide and the actual cost to the public. We can see the whole budget and we can see what individual areas cost but I just think it would be interesting in terms of a young person or a child’s journey.”
The number of children looked after in the Vale of Glamorgan increased from 282 in March 2019 to 322 in March 2023, according to Welsh Government statistics. Vale of Glamorgan Council said in a report published last year that the number of children looked after at October 2024 was 363. Ms Conway said there is also an increasing demand on foster care.
At Monday’s scrutiny committee meeting she said: “Sometimes children with complex needs, whether they be children with complex behavioural needs or children with disabilities, those placements can cost the local authority anywhere in the region of £200,000 up to £500,000 a year just for an individual child.” As of October 2024 Vale council had 21 young people in residential care (two in secure units, three in residential schools, and 16 in residential children’s homes) and 85 young people in external fostering placements.
For 2023-24 the overall external placement budget for children looked after was overspent by £2.5m. The current external placements budget is forecasting to overspend this year (2024-25) by £3.5m. There are many different factors affecting pressure on the council’s budget including demand on homelessness services, demand for adult social care, and inflation. At the moment Vale of Glamorgan Council is facing a budget shortfall of £14.8m for 2025-26.