Sandwell Council's children's services budget slashed by £7m

A damning report released in June said 'widespread and serious failures' were putting children at risk of harm.

Bosses said the decision was made before the report was released. But the council's issues with children's services were already widely known after serious concerns were raised by the education regulator two years ago.

Deputy leader Steve Eling said 'draconian' cuts in central government funding had forced the authority to make budget cuts and that the children's services budget had been protected as much as possible.

The cash-strapped council has been forced to save more than £120 million over the last five years.

Councillor Eling said he did not expect children's services to suffer as a result of the £7.16m cut, insisting bosses had managed to save cash that was previously wasted.

But the move has been criticised by a member of the council's own cabinet.

He said: "The reduction is lower than other areas of the council. Had children's services had the same cut as other services then it would have been double that.

"We have paid for failure in Sandwell for years. We have put children in inappropriate high-cost external placements and employed boat loads of agency staff for enormous amounts of money. We have got to grips with that and changed it around completely. Children's services performed a significant surplus last year.

"Nothing escapes the level of cuts being imposed by this government but I would say the the children's social care is delivering better budget use and and delivering outcomes for children than two, three, four years ago."

But council cabinet member Steve Jones said he was baffled by the move.

He said: "Apparently the service works without money, I'm as confused as anyone else.

"How can £7 million be reduced and it works better? Ofsted unfortunately are saying something different. It's a bemusement to me."

Councillor Jones also criticised previous running of children's services.

"Why was their wastage in the first place, why was it so inefficient before the government forced the cuts? The council threw money at children's services trying to make things work," he said.

Sandwell Council was rocked by the latest condemnation by Ofsted in June. Leaders were accused of not having sufficient understanding of failures and being 'ineffective in prioritising, challenging and making improvements'. Council bosses rejected its findings and insisted they had improved services since major concerns were flagged up in 2013.