In an letter to Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, shared with CYP Now, the councillors said that in the last few months, social workers and commissioners across all local authorities in the South East have experienced a “considerable increase” in the difficulty of sourcing "appropriate, affordable" placements for children in care.
Placements often come at a high cost and the limited, expensive options are leading some councils to use unregulated supported accommodation, the councillors say.
“Many of our council budgets are stretched beyond what we can afford. The costs of placing children are now making it impossible to fund according to need, and have gone beyond unsustainable for our budgets at a time of ever-increasing costs,” the letter states.
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