CYP Now - High cost of agency social workers and care placements led to £42mn children’s trust overspend, council says

High levels of spending on agency social workers and residential placements for children in care are key factors in a £42mn overspend at Bradford Children and Families Trust over the last year, according to a council report.

Bradford Council was facing a £70mn overspend at the end of March this year. Picture: Adobe Stock

An executive report, published last month by Bradford Council, lays out the “unprecedented scale of its financial challenges”, including a £70mn overspend at the end of March this year.

More than half of the overspend is attributed to the setting up and running of Bradford Children and Families Trust, a business wholly own by the council, which was launched in April 2023 following the death of Star Hobson and a series of “inadequate” Ofsted ratings.

The Trust spent £42mn more than its allocated £170mn in the 2023/24 financial year.

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