Children's social care spending rises five per cent

Provisional figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) show that councils spent a combined £6.95bn on children’s social care services between April 2013 and March 2014.

This figure is £340m (5.1 per cent) higher than spending in 2012/13, when the total came to £6.61bn.

The DCLG said the increase was the largest of any local authority service area.

In contrast, spending on education dropped by 3.4 per cent, from £37.1bn in 2012/13 to £35.9bn in 2013/14.

Meanwhile, local authority contributions to police services fell by 3.7 per cent from £11.3bn to £10.9bn.

Spending on adult social care rose by 0.3 per cent from £14.5bn to £14.6bn.

The figures show that children’s social care costs in 2013/14 consisted of £2.7bn being spent on employees, and £4.8bn on running costs.

Councils recouped £110m in sales, fees and charges, and a further £455m in “other income”.

Including capital projects spending, such as new buildings, the amount spent by councils on children's social care comes to £7.06bn. The like-for-like figure in 2012/13 was £6.73bn.

It is the second year running that spending on children’s social care has increased.

Figures released earlier this year show there was a 2.6 per cent rise between 2011/12 and 2012/13.