The cost of child social care nearly doubled in two years in North Somerset.  

Data from North Somerset Council shows that the amount spent on providing support for looked after children went from just over £9.5 million in the year 2021/22 to over £19m in the year 2023/24.  

The costs are expected to climb even higher over the next year, with forecasts placing the figure for 2024/25 at just over £29.5m.  

If the predictions are right, the amount North Somerset Council spends on child social will have tripled in three years.  

While there is a growing number of children in social care, “does not fully explain the significant rise in costs”, according to a council spokesperson. 

In just over two years, the number of children under the care of North Somerset council has increased by around 32 percent, from 199 in 2021/22 to 262 as of November 2024. 

The reason for the sharp rise is the council’s insufficient childcare services, resulting in a reliance on “external foster carers” which can be costly. 

“We don’t have enough local foster carers within North Somerset Council’s in-house fostering service,” said a council spokesperson. 

“We are therefore having to work with more external foster carers, which is more expensive.” 

North Somerset Council also said it is seeing a rise in cases that require residential care for the child, another more costly service:  

“We are seeing rising levels of need and complexity of cases, which means that more children require residential care. This is more expensive than foster care provision.” 

“Unfortunately, this reflects a national trend and isn’t a unique situation being faced here in North Somerset.” 

On Monday (November 18), the government announced it was cracking down on care providers making excessive profits by embarking on major reforms “to end years of neglect of the children’s social care support system”.  

The measures come as local government spending on looked after children has ballooned from £3.1 billion in 2009/10 to £7 billion in 2022/23 

They are intended to tackle children’s placements providers that “deliver subpar standards of care at sky-high costs to councils”.  

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Our care system has suffered from years of drift and neglect. It’s bankrupting councils, letting families down, and above all, leaving too many children feeling forgotten, powerless and invisible. 

“We want to break down the barriers to opportunity and end the cycle of crisis through ambitious reforms to give vulnerable children the best life chances – because none of us thrive until all of us do. 

“We will crack down on care providers making excessive profit, tackle unregistered and unsafe provision and ensure earlier intervention to keep families together and help children to thrive.”