2 September 2010
Councils in Scotland need to manage children’s residential services better, auditors have said.
In a report published on September 2, Audit Scotland, found weaknesses in the planning and commissioning of care services and poor information. Some local authorities did not have clear strategies for the service and many councils did not know the full costs per child of their in-house provision.
The spending watchdog stressed that councils could not demonstrate that they were achieving value for money for residential child care without knowing the real costs and the outcomes achieved for the children and young people.
Getting it right for children in residential care followed a study of the way councils used their resources on residential placements for ‘looked after’ children.
It found that although professional practice and work with children was good in many respects, not all children received the best quality of care and support. For many, their long-term outcomes were poor.
The report criticised a number of aspects of the management of the service, which costs Scottish councils £240m a year.
In 2008/09, £135m of this was paid in fees to independent providers, with the remainder spent on in-house provision.
John Baillie, chair of the Accounts Commission, which is responsible for local government audit, said councils and their partners could be doing a lot to improve services for children.
‘They need to ensure they act as “corporate parents”, improve their understanding of what leads to the best outcomes and focus on the support they are providing for the long-term needs of each child or young person, as any good parent would do for their own child.’
