Audit Commission finds regional variation in spending on looked-after children

20 Aug 14
Councils’ spending on looked-after children rose by 4% in the four years to the end of 2012/13, despite a 12% increase in the number of children they are responsible for over the same period, Audit Commission figures have revealed.

By Rosie Niven | 21 August 2014

Councils’ spending on looked-after children rose by 4% in the four years to the end of 2012/13, despite a 12% increase in the number of children they are responsible for over the same period, Audit Commission figures have revealed.

However, the commission found there were large regional variations in the spending changes, from a 15% rise in the Northeast, to a 7% reduction in London.

The number of children in the care of councils in England rose by 7,210 to 68,110 over a four-year period ending on March 31 2013, according to a Commission briefing on councils’ spending on looked-after children.

It says that in 2012/13 councils in England spent a total of £3.4bn caring for these vulnerable young people, who represent 0.6% of all children in England under the age of 18.

The briefing also found significant variation in the amount councils spend on each looked after child across England – 21 councils spending less than £40,000 per child, while 32 spent more than £60,000.

Commission chair Jeremy Newman said: ‘Our briefing highlights considerable variation between councils’ spending on looked after children in their care.

‘We encourage all councils to review their spending and in particular urge higher spending councils to understand the reasons for this and to consider whether they can secure more cost-effective placements without compromising on the quality of care.’

If the 25% of councils that spent the most had been able to reduce their spending in 2012/13 to the level of their comparator group, around £84m would have been saved, or around 2.5% of the total.

The briefing also revealed that between 2008/09 and 2012/13 councils’ use of foster care increased by a fifth, and more than two-thirds of this extra care was provided by foster care agencies from the private and voluntary sectors.

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