The Local Government Association (LGA) report has found that children’s services are “continuing to deliver improvements and sustain strong performance”.
But these are being hindered by “bigger and systemic challenges” facing council children’s services teams across England.
This includes a lack of placements for children with the most complex needs, which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis putting pressure on the availability of foster care places.
In addition, residential placement providers are becoming “increasingly risk averse” in accepting young people with complex needs, as behaviour such as absconding, “might lead to less positive inspection judgements”.
This means that “high quality provision is very scarce and any provision, whether of high or indifferent quality, is extremely expensive”, says the LGA’s report.
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