The increase in looked-after children accounted for most of the 8m overspend for 2003/04 in the social services department (Children Now, 9-15 June), which was severely criticised in last year's Laming report on the death of Victoria Climbie.
Spending on children's services will have to be cut by nine per cent in the current year to stay within budget. Last year's budget was 39.1m, but the department spent 44.8m, according to a council spokeswoman. This year's budget is 40.9m.
Anne Bristow, Haringey's director of social services, said: "Because we had challenges with the budget, we'll have another assistant director working with us as part of the council's improvement programme, who will work across the department to help some of the financial managers get a better grip on their spending."
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