Leicestershire social workers make appeal for more cash

Social workers are seeking an extra £2.5 million to deal with a rise in the number of children coming into care. They are asking county councillors to approve an increase in their £31.1 million budget for 2012-13 to tackle the issue.

Leicestershire County Council has seen a 31 per cent increase in the number of children it looks after over the past five years, up from 330 in 2007 to 432 today.

The extra cash would pay for 60 more staff and additional resources.

Leicester City Council has also seen an increase of 18 per cent in the same period, up from 435 in 2007 to 514 today.

There has been a national rise in the number of children in care, following high-profile cases such as that of Baby P, in Haringey, in 2007, whose neglect and abuse led to his death.

Walter McCulloch, the county’s assistant director for children’s services, said: “The rise in Leicestershire is a reflection of the overall picture.

“It correlates to national tragedies such as Baby P, when all those involved with safeguarding children were acutely aware of concerns being raised, as were the general public, who have also started to report more cases of concern.

“We need more social work staff to deal directly with those children and their families.

“We would also like more staff to help us deal with early prevention so that in the long run there are fewer cases of children who need to come into care.”

Mr McCulloch said parents who were brought to the department’s attention often needed no more than basic, one-to-one help with parenting to get them on the right track.

“The council offers such help through its safeguarding team and other resources for parents and guardians, such as parenting classes,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Leicestershire County Council said the bid for extra cash would be considered as part of the council’s budget on February 22.

Leicester City Council social workers are also likely to request an increase in the safeguarding budget – by £800,000 to £9.5 million – to meet the cost of extra fostering placements and external placements as a result of more children coming into care.

Cheriel O’Neill, the city’s head of children’s resources, said: “There’s been a national increase in the number of looked-after children and this is reflected in the city.

“One reason for this is a clearer understanding – shared by social carers and other agencies – of where safeguarding issues exist and when children need to become looked after.

“Changes to the law around 16 to 18 year olds also mean that more older children now meet the requirements of what it is to be a looked-after child.

“The economic downturn has seen more families experience unemployment and poverty.

“This can create issues for some families which could adversely affect their ability to parent safely.”

Children in care include those whose families have requested the council look after their children because they are unable to cope and those where the authority has applied to the courts to remove them from their families.