(a)

the fact that all Councillors were corporate parents;

(b)

there were 413 children in care in Plymouth, with a further 265 children, considered ‘children in need’ in the community with a care plan; the scale of need coming forward was unprecedented and this was recognised nationally;

(c)

the council had a variety of pledges linked to this area, including the aim to reduce institutional placements, to promote fostering and adoption, and to try to help care leavers find apprenticeships within the Council; a decision was made by Council to also  exempt care leavers from paying council tax;

(d)

it was considered that the main cause for the council having an overspent budget was due to the high cost of children’s placements;  approximately 88% of local authorities, 133 out of 152, were overspending on children’s social care;

(e)

on 19 January 2019 the Auditor General commissioned a report into the state of children’s social care services – this was commissioned by the Department for Education. Work was due to be completed in the Summer of 2019 however it was considered that the Department for Education lacked a clear pathway to achieve its goals;

(f)

the majority of children looked after by the council were supported by in- house or independent fostering agencies;  413 children were in council care, with only 57 children making the high cost placements;

(g)

of the high cost placements, 35 young people were in residential placements and this included children with a disability; 3 young people were in secure accommodation and this was because they were either a risk to themselves or to others;  and 19 young people were in supported living arrangements because they may be difficult to place for a variety of reasons or because a placement had failed;

(h)

the local authority’s budget for children’s social care was £8, 284,000 however the spend was currently £12,237,000.

(i)

young people were sometimes placed out of Plymouth for their own wellbeing and safeguarding or because specialist provision was not available in the city; the aim was for children to be placed at in-house provision, or independent fostering sector;

(j)

Members would be provided with specific figures, for this financial year, regarding the numbers of specialist residential placements that were required;

(k)

the council had access to different funds and grants, including the Disabled Facilities Grant, to help support children with disabilities and who required specialist provision; it was highlighted that some families may not want specialist provision at home for a multitude of reasons therefore children were required to be placed out of their home setting;

(l)

the weekly rate for children’s social care was radically different from the budgeted amount and this was due to the complexity of care required, the increase in the cost of care and the demand on the budget;

(m)

complexities of cases had increased and lots of cases were linked to mental health issues and substance abuse; the council was trying to develop its early help offer to stop them escalating.

(n)

officers worked well with health colleagues within the current policies in place however policies were now being looked at with a focus on financial contributions.