Councils have managed to protect their spending on children’s social care, the latest analysis from the Audit Commission has found.
The commission said expenditure in this area was ‘relatively protected’ from 2010/11 to 2012/13, with a slight average increase between 2011/12 and 2012/13 as other services were cut by up to 11%.
Councils spent £6.9bn on children’s social care in 2012/13, excluding expenditure on early years, youth work and discretionary education grants, with nearly half used to support looked after children.
The commission said total expenditure on services for looked after children rose by £1.4bn in real terms between 2000/01 and 2012/13 – a 69% increase.
Its analysis showed that councils achieved savings from 2008/09 to 2012/13 as a result of the increasing use of foster carers.
The number of days of foster care bought by English councils rose by 21% during this period.
