Council spending on children in need rises by a quarter

The amount local authorities spend on services for children in
need has risen by more than a quarter, new figures from the
department of health show.

The statistics from the 2001 comprehensive national survey on
children in need show that the cost of providing services to
376,000 children in need rose 26 per cent from £40.1 million
per week in 2000 to £50.4 million in 2001.

Children in need received an average of 3.4 hours of staff time
per week.

Of the total number of children in need 69,000 were looked after
children and 12,600 were asylum seekers.

The amount spent on each child in need rose just under 30 per
cent, compared with a 15 per cent increase for looked after
children. Children being supported within their families benefited
most with a 33 per cent rise.