Suffolk County Council’s spend on residential care placements for children increases by over £7 million as costs soar

The amount spent by a council on residential care placements for children shot up by more than £7 million as it continues to grapple with soaring costs and a dearth of carers.

The overall number of children in local authority care in Suffolk remains relatively static despite the spiralling increase on the public purse and hundreds of placements are still outside of the county - with one ‘not in the UK’ over the last two years.

Suffolk County Council spent £32,157,946 on all residential care placements in 2023/24 compared to £24,524,524 in 2022/23 - a rise of £7,633,422.

The figures were revealed after a SuffolkNews Freedom of Information request and followed our investigation last year into the huge spend on care for children.

Now, as then, the authority said it was struggling with enough placements for children, which was a national issue as the number of carers recruited was failing to keep up with the amount entering care.

It said it was working hard to recruit new foster carers.

A spokesperson said the unit cost for residential provision had increased due to demand including for young people across the country who come into Suffolk’s care with high levels of need.

The amount spent on residential care placements so far this year stands at £16,471,719, while the number of children in care from April 1 to October 28 was 1,062 compared to 1,269 last year.

However, the council said the number of children in care at any one time was closer to 900, with 890 on Tuesday, December 3.

As part of the spending, it forked out £2,950,183.31 between August 1, 2023 and July 31, 2024 to support looked after children under the age of 16 living in unregulated accommodation, with £3,051,489 in 2022/2023.

The number of placements out of county this year was 320 in total and 58 residential, compared to 410 and 49 residential last year.

In terms of all placements so far this year, there have been 160 in Norfolk, 77 in Essex, 16 in Cambridgeshire and 13 in Kent.

There were four in Barking and Dagenham, Wales, Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Three were in Northamptonshire, Birmingham, Hounslow and Kirklees.

Two were registered in Peterborough, Wolverhampton, Worcestershire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Buckinghamshire and Lincolnshire.

There was one in Newham, North Yorkshire, West Sussex, Bedford Burrough, Rutland, Waltham Forest, Gloucestershire, Darlington, City of Bristol, Durham and Portsmouth.

A single case was recorded as ‘not in the UK’ in the last two years.

Asked why there were still so many out of county placements, a council spokesperson said it always sought to keep children, unable to stay with their extended family, as near to home as possible.

Some will be medium or long term placements, which count year on year, and may be in specialist provision.

A third are with family or kinship placements that are almost all long term and who do not live in the border of Suffolk.

Some will be close to the county’s borders and will represent the best placement for safety reasons or where a foster carer is further afield but can keep siblings together.

The spokesperson acknowledged the increase in the use of residential out of county placements but said 75 per cent were in Norfolk and Essex.

Questioned about a solution to the situation, they cited the Government’s recent policy statement ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’ which sets out a commitment to whole system reform of the children’s social care system.

Cllr Bobby Bennett, cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: “We treat every child in our care as an individual, and ensure that decisions are tailored to address their specific needs. When care is the best choice for a child, in most cases we aim to place children within their local community, where they would call home.

“The challenges of our rural county can sometimes make this difficult and in some cases, this may not be in the best interests of the child.”

She said they were actively recruiting additional foster carers to expand their capacity and provide more children with placements close to their family networks, friends and schools.

Anyone who is interested in becoming a foster carer, can contact the team on 01473 264800 or email fosterandadopt@suffolk.gov.uk.