The Well Being Performance Panel took its quarterly look at performance in Child and Family Services last week. The panel was pleased to see that there were 8 fewer looked after children at the end of August compared to the previous month and that the numbers of looked after children had been on a downward trend since April. Numbers of looked after children still remain high in Swansea and this has implications for the budget.
The biggest concern for the panel was the continued overspend in the budget for Child and Family Services and the impact this has on the sustainability of services provided to vulnerable children and famillies. Councillors on the panel stressed the importance of early discussions within the department about how services will continue to be provided within a much tighter budget. The Council has to make savings of around £45 million over the next three years and each department must contribute to this target. The councillors on the panel agreed that the Child & Family Services budget and overspend needed its attention. All councillors agreed that a panel meting will be devoted to this in the coming weeks and that the Cabinet Member for Well Being, Councillor Mark Child, would be invited to attend to answer questions from the panel.
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