Nine out of 10 London councils overspend on children's social care

The survey by the Greater London regional branch of the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) found that 27 of 30 councils in the capital overspent on their children's social care budgets.

The overspend equates to £3.5m per council and amounts to 9.6 per cent of their aggregated children's social care budgets.

Areas of financial pressure highlighted in the survey include supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, providing specialist support and transport for children with special educational needs as well as meeting the costs for placements for looked-after children and staffing costs. 

"The challenges of a growing population, the impact of housing pressures and unfunded existing ‘new burdens' will resonate widely," said a statement from the ADCS London region, which worked with London Councils and borough treasurers to compile the survey.

Claire Kober, chair of London Councils, said the capital's boroughs need more support from government to reflect their fast growing populations.

"London already has a population roughly equal to that of Scotland and Wales combined and is growing at twice the rate of the rest of the country," she said. 

"Properly funded council services that are alive to the changing needs of local residents are vital to ensuring that London can continue to maintain its position as a leading global city."

Earlier this year, the Local Government Association (LGA) warned that councils across England are facing a £2bn spending gap in children's services by 2020, due to rising demand and cuts to their grants from central government. Councils are already overspending more than £600m on children's social care, the LGA added.

According to government data released in September, the number of children in care is rising at its fastest rate in five years.

The figures show there were 72,670 children in care in the 12 months to the end of March 2017, compared with 70,440 the year before and 69,480 in 2015.

The LGA has called on the government to prioritise additional funding for children's services in this week's budget.

However, ministers have indicated that councils will need to find the extra money through other means.

In October, children's minister Robert Goodwill said that councils should make better use of existing resources.

Also last month, Education Secretary Justine Greening told councils they would have to increase council tax charges if they wanted to invest more in family and early years support through children's centres.