Council reveals plans to save cash to spend on children’s social care

NOTTS County Council today reveals how it plans to cut other services to provide more support for children it cares for.

The costs of care have shot up in the wake of the Baby Peter scandal due to a rise in the number of cases being reported.

An extra £15m now needs to be spent on 26 new social workers and 11 advanced practitioners with expert skills.

The council is also set to launch a campaign to recruit more foster carers to save money spent on carers supplied by independent agencies.

However, budgets for early intervention youth work and children with special needs will be cut.

Councillor Philip Owen, cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: “Historically, the council has spent less on children’s social care than other authorities and these proposals address this.

“We intend to provide more flexible transport to school, which will increase choice for parents.

“Secondly, we intend to offer more support for young carers so that they can enjoy their childhood and concentrate on their education.

“A large number of the proposed savings are created by reducing management layers and back office support to help protect frontline services as much as possible.”

He added the council’s Big Budget Consultation, which it launched last month to gauge people’s views, had informed some of decisions being made.

He said: “It is part of a review of the way the department delivers its services.

“It has been informed by the Big Budget Conversation that has been going on. There have only been up to 800 responses but the general theme that is coming through is that they want to take out management costs and to spend more on children’s services. And these proposals do exactly that.”