Council plans to reduce the number of children in care and improve accommodation have been revealed after placement costs dramatically increased, writes Local Democracy Reporter, Bill Edgar.
Durham County Council said the cost of children’s care placements has increased by £58 million over four years due to rising demand.
Cabinet members are set to agree a Sufficiency Statement, which sets out plans to secure enough accommodation to meet the needs of children in care.
The number of children in care in County Durham has risen from 92 per 10,000 in 2020 to 122 per 10,000 in 2024, with a higher rate of children entering care. It means £88 million was being spent on children in care placements in 2024, up from £30 million in 2020.
Councillor Cathy Hunt, cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: “We are committed to ensuring we have a range of good quality, local care provision that meets the varying needs of our children in care and care leavers.”
The council has identified four key aims to address this, which have been outlined in the Sufficiency Statement:
Support for children and young people to live outside of care – Further investment in the council’s preventative offer to provide targeted support. This will ensure more children and young people continue to live at home with their family and reduce the number of children entering care.
Family-based homes – Grow the council’s in-house fostering offer, so it can care for more children and young people; provide more support to foster carers to prevent children’s living arrangements breaking down; and support more children to leave care when the time is right for them.
Sufficiency for children’s homes – The development of new specialist in-house children’s homes to meet a range of needs and enable the council to care for more children closer to home.
Market management opportunities and broader work with the region – Review the cost of care to provide sustainable pricing across the council’s children’s social care markets. Develop a regional Sufficiency Statement and work closely with providers to influence and shape new care provision based on local sufficiency needs.
Cllr Hunt added: “The Sufficiency Statement sets out our current position in being able to meet these needs and outlines actions to support further improvement. This includes new actions to help reduce the number of children in care and to support children to remain at home where it is safe to do so, while addressing increasing expenditure.”
Meanwhile, a new term ‘Durham Family’ is also set to be agreed, replacing the previous ‘Corporate Parent’ phrase.
Cllr Hunt said: “As the Durham Family, when it is not possible to stay at home with parents, we will provide care for children and young people and will become their co-parent. We see this as taking responsibility for children, so they feel loved, cared for and safe where they live. It is also about making sure our children and young people have the best opportunities, feel valued, are excited about their future and know they will be supported to achieve this.
“Listening to our children and young people about what they need and ensuring their views help to shape the services they receive is central to our practice.”
Durham County Council’s cabinet will meet on Wednesday, 15 October.
Bill Edgar
Reporter for the Local Democracy Reporter Service.
South West Durham News covering news across County Durham.
