A National Audit Office (NAO) review of children's social care spending has concluded that ministers do not know why demand for children in care services has grown by 15 per cent since 2010.
The NAO's report cites latest funding figures that show that in 2018/19, councils expect to spend £4.2bn on children in care - £350m more than they budgeted for the previous year.
It also found the Department for Education lacks an understanding of why there is a wide variation in local spending, which ranges from £566 to £5,166 per child a year.
Behind the headline figures, there is criticism of commissioning practice by local authorities. The report recognises that most councils have insufficient residential care placements. However, it cites Sir Martin Narey's 2016 review of residential care that found "an absence of successful commissioning" was to blame for councils spending "widely different prices for the same standard of care".
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