Council's '£1m-per-year bill' for the care of a single child

A NORTH Wales council is spending more than £1m a year on the care of a single child, a meeting was told. Members of Conwy Council's governance and audit committee was told the council was paying out huge costs for children it is obliged to look after.

- By RICHARD EVANS Local Democracy Reporter [e-mail]

During an update on the council’s internal audit performance between April and June this year, Abergele councillor Paul Luckock raised the subject of commissioning services, such as the council funding children’s care, some of which meant paying for childcare in children’s homes over the border.

Coun Luckock said questioning the funding was “a profound issue” in terms of whether the authority was getting “value for money”.

"We are spending enormous sums of money. I mean, [according to] my best information from social services, [on] one child alone we are spending more than a million pounds a year,” said Coun Luckock.