Sandwell children’s service ‘financially sound’

The assurance comes as the council transferred £3.4 million into the accounts of the Sandwell Children’s Trust, which earlier this year revealed it is now caring for 801 young people, up from 601 last year.

The move comes as councils across the country are warning they are struggling to cope with the sharp rise in numbers of children coming into care.

Cllr Steve Eling, leader of Sandwell Council, said at this week’s cabinet meeting some authorities were warning of possible bankruptcy, adding: “The issue for us is that we have been absolutely hammered by Tory cuts since 2010 but we are not about to go bust and that is an important message.

But he added: “I do have to flag up, as is the same across the country, that the pressures on children’s care are enormous and the number of children being referred into care is growing exponentially.

“This is not a situation created by councils but it is the councils who have to come to the rescue.

“This has a significant impact on budgets and it is having a significant impact on our budget and we can’t shy away from that.”

Darren Carter, executive director – resources at Sandwell Council, explaining why the council had switched funds to the Children’s Trust, said: “The council approved the contract sum to be paid to the trust as part of the budget report in March.

“No additional payments above the figure agreed in March are being proposed.

“That contract sum included budgets from across council services. For example, the budgets for the support services – such as finance, HR and ICT – were previously held in resources.

“The virements included in the P3 monitoring report are simply pulling together all of those budgets in one place in Children’s Services to simplify the process of monitoring those budgets going forward.

“So, to be clear – although there are pressures in the children’s social care system that need a national solution, we are not currently projecting a problem for this year.”