THE sky high cost of residential care packages for children is “not providing best value” for Dumfries and Galloway Council – or the kids themselves.
This is the damning verdict of an internal audit into the controversial practice which sees dozens of children sent to private care homes outwith the region each month.
Children’s residential care costs have now risen to around £8m annually because the number of youngsters requiring residential care has almost doubled in the last few years.
A significant amount of work is being done by social work chiefs to overhaul this system and create ‘ordinary houses’ here in the region where children can be cared for, and at a much lower cost.
A review of high-cost residential care packages for children was a priority in the council’s internal audit plan for 2024/25.
The audit report, which is due to be tabled at the council’s audit, risk and scrutiny committee next week, reads: “The number of children/young people in residential placements has increased from an average of 16 in 2022/23 to 30 at as February 2025.
“The costs of each placement are high and can vary between £3900 and £9200 per week. There is a forecast overspend for 2024/25 of £2 million, offset by a reduction in expenditure on assessment and fieldwork of £1.1 million.
“A report to the social work services committee on August 22, 2024 stated that, combined with growing numbers of looked-after children, this is placing a significant strain on budgets, limiting the council’s scope to fund other important activities in children’s services and beyond.
“It is not providing best value for children, and/or best value for the council.”
The review of residential care packages highlighted that there is currently no effective monitoring of contracts with private care providers to ensure that the agreed staffing levels are in place.
The audit report states: “Given the value of each contract, effective contract monitoring is essential.”
Meanwhile, the process for setting up the placements for children who need them has also been called into question.
A residential placement group (RPG) is the decision-making panel which oversees and scrutinises all residential placement requests for children and young people, both within region and outwith region.
The RPG is a ten-person multi-disciplinary (and multi-agency) panel chaired by a manager from social work’s children and families department, with the principal educational psychologist holding the position of deputy chair.
However, the council’s social work department insists that the decision-making remit for the RPG “does not sit well” alongside the legal framework for making decisions about where children and young people should live.
Another issue is that these panel meetings are scheduled, however some residential placements may have to be made immediately, including out of hours, in an emergency situation.
Social work bosses are now calling for revised governance arrangements.
