£10m black hole hitting children in need of care

RISING poverty and a ‘saturated’ care home market have been blamed for a growing £10m black hole in Manchester’s budget for vulnerable children.

The number of youngsters coming into the city’s care system rose to a two-year high at the end of February after ‘incrementally’ increasing over the previous 12 months - a trend senior councillors have put down to growing pressure on vulnerable families.

At the same time, bad Ofsted inspections at two of the three care homes still commissioned or run by the council - as well as a wider shortage of places across the region - has meant the town hall is now struggling to place children coming through its doors. Its latest executive meeting was informed of a £10m shortfall in the city’s childrens service budget as a result, up from around £9m in March, while councillors were told children are having to be sent outside of the city due to a lack of provision.

The number of children in Manchester’s care system at the end of February was 1,248, higher than at any point for two years.

Despite an increase in fostering across the city, a lack of residential provision has seen the council struggle to keep pace with the rising demand.

An earlier ‘redesign’ of its service had seen the council close several of its children’s homes, leaving it running or commissioning just three to provide medium or longterm care - two of which, Willow Vue and Lyndene, were then branded ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, leaving them unable to take children for some time.

“This, along with an increase in the number of children coming into care, has contributed significantly to the increased numbers in external residential provision,” said a report to the council’s children and young people’s scrutiny committee.

At the same time it refers to ‘market saturation’ within the private care home market across the north west, partly down to authorities across the country placing their children in the region’s homes.

“The local market is not calibrated to meet local/regional needs and local authorities report a lack of provision for many looked after children,” adds, the report. Combined with increases to minimum wage and rising demand, the shortage has seen Manchester council’s budget for looked after children fall further and further into the red, its shortfall this month standing at £10.019m.

Deputy director of children’s services Sean McKendrick told a council executive meeting there was ‘no present plan’ to re-open children’s homes, adding that demand had ‘plateaued’ in the last three months.

Coun Garry Bridges, pictured, the council’s new executive member for children’s services, said: “The issue with looked after children demand is very, very complicated.

“It is related to poverty in the city, which is on the increase, largely through government policies such as Universal Credit and sanctions, which often leave families very, very vulnerable.”