THE astronomical costs of residential care placements for Dumfries and Galloway children is spiralling out of control, a new report has revealed.
Shock figures have revealed that it will cost nearly £270,000 per child to be looked after by private providers outwith the region over the next year.
And the total bill the council will be landed with will rise from just over £6m last year to almost £8m in 2024/25.
This is down to a lack of care houses in Dumfries and Galloway and private providers taking full advantage by charging roughly £5000 per week to look after kids requiring care.
Lochar Councillor Linda Dorward has labelled the situation a “local and national scandal”.
Speaking at the council’s social work committee last week, she said: “We have five children in Dumfries and Galloway in local authority residential care, and 23 outwith the region outsourced to the private sector residential care.
“The difference in spend per place is shocking.”
Following the closure of Cairnryan House children’s care home at the beginning of the pandemic, there is only one remaining children’s residential care facility in the region – Hardthorn Road in Dumfries.
This is why the cost of residential placements reached a staggering £6.048m last year, and a projected £7.96m next year, as most youths are being sent to expensive providers outwith the region.
In previous social work committee meetings, Councillor Dorward has pushed for the council to open its own care residential facilities.
Social work chiefs have since been working on plans to “reimagine” residential childcare provision in the region, which has involved talks with registered social landlords about available properties.
After last week’s meeting, the Labour Councillor reiterated the urgency of taking action, saying: “I accept that for a minority of children and young people living outside the region is the right thing to do for them at this particular time, but surely not for 82 percent of them.
“It is a local and national scandal that the majority of residential care provision in this region and this country is run by the private sector.”
Charles Rocks, the council’s head of children, families and justice service, said a recruitment drive was in place to attract the right staff to lead changes to the service, and that a full complement will be in place by October.
Responding to Councillor Dorward’s complaints about the shocking costs, Mr Rocks said: “That observation is well known.
“The ability to influence children and support children in a local context is huge for us.”
