Children in care: Council to consider rise in placement numbers

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Wakefield councillors are to consider options on how to accommodate the growing number of children and young people in care.

The local authority saw the number of children in care across the district rise almost 7% in a year amid a “national crisis” of care placements for youngsters.

As of March 2024, there were 684 children in care in the Wakefield district – an increase of 6.8% compared to 639 a year earlier.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Latest figures show the number had risen again to 692, according to a report to the council’s children and young people scrutiny committee.

Wakefield councillors are to consider options on how to accommodate the growing number of children and young people in care.Wakefield councillors are to consider options on how to accommodate the growing number of children and young people in care.
Wakefield councillors are to consider options on how to accommodate the growing number of children and young people in care.

The number of children in care nationally reached 83,620 as of March 2024, compared to 82,170 in March 2022.

Wakefield continues to have one of the lowest levels of children in care compared to local authorities of a similar size.

The document said: “There is a national crisis in respect of sufficient placements for our children and young people in our care.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We know that there are unprecedented demands on children’s social care.”

All local authorities have a duty to ensure there is sufficient local accommodation to support all children and young people in care.

Wakefield Council has a “sufficiency strategy” in place to work with our safeguarding partners to meet demand.

The report adds: “The number of fostering households nationally are not increasing in line with this and therefore, this does increase the risk of having insufficient foster placements to meet demand.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Due to this demand, Wakefield Council needs to continue to increase placement sufficiency for children in care.”

The document highlights the council’s attempts to address the issue in recent years, including increasing its own portfolio of supported accommodation from 45 to 58 placements.

Plans are also in place to create a further 23 placements.

In December 2024, senior councillors agreed to lease two properties from Wakefield District Housing to provide short-term emergency placements, as well as recruiting and training more staff to run them.

The properties provide accommodation for up to six young people while long-term placements are identified.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The council has also entered into a series of bidding rounds with the Department for Education after the government committed to £90m of local government funding to provide for the “most complex children and young people.”

The document adds: “Our model will focus on children who have been exploited who tend to move to crisis placements or activity placements far away in order to disrupt the exploitation.

“This model will support children staying in their home town of Wakefield.”

Committee members will consider the report at a meeting on Thursday (February 6).

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

News you can trust since 1852
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice