Wolverhampton's child care budget facing £6m cut

The authority is proposing £5million of cuts from April followed by a further £1million in 2016/17.

Wolverhampton already has a higher rate of children in care than the West Midlands and national averages.

Figures available in September show there were 783 children in care in the city. It works out as 139 per 10,000 in the population, with the national target being around 110 per 10,000 children. The figure is up 661 from last year.

A council project called Families R First was launched to tackle the issue with chiefs predicting that it will take years to solve the problem.

A report warns about the consequences of the cuts.

It says: "The implications for customers of this proposal represent some risk. The risk management of this programme in relation to individual cases is crucial in order to ensure Children and Young People (CYP) are supported safely with their families and that becoming looked after is the last option."

Councillor Val Gibson, Wolverhampton City Council's cabinet member for children and families, said: "The wellbeing of children in our city is of paramount important to us.

"The number of children in care in Wolverhampton has – as elsewhere in the country – increased substantially over the last few years.

"This is putting additional pressure on the council's already stretched financial resources at a time in which we have also seen significant reductions in the amount of funding made available to us by Central Government.

"In order to meet this challenge, we have developed a new delivery model designed to help families to function better, and therefore reduce the number of young people who need to be taken into care.

"In April this year we launched a new programme, Families R First, which seeks to offer help and support at the earliest opportunity so that children can remain with their families whenever possible."

Councillor Gibson said the programme ensures only children that need to come into care do so and it looks to find them a permanent family as soon as possible.

She added: "These are still early days, but since the launch of Families R First, the number of children coming into care has levelled off and we are hopeful that, with the right level of help and support from the council and other agencies, more young people will be able to remain with their families in future."

Leader of the opposition Conservative group, Councillor Wendy Thompson, said the £6million of cuts were worrying.

She said: "The welfare of our children is the priority and we have to make sure they are being cared for properly.

"If the people aren't capable then we have to step in. Why Wolverhampton has these numbers of children in care, I'm not sure.

"The figure of £6million is worrying and I think the council can only hope to save that much but it is a problem in the city."