The Place and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee of West Northamptonshire Council met on Tuesday 16 June 2026 to discuss the financial challenges and strategic direction of children's social care, alongside a review of the council's budget scrutiny process. Key decisions included a commitment to explore recommendations for improving the local plan's policy on children's homes, writing to the Ministry of Justice regarding recharging costs, and investigating ways to accelerate foster care recruitment.

Children's Social Care Strategy and Financial Pressures

The committee received a detailed presentation on the West Northamptonshire Council Children's Social Care Strategy, focusing on its financial implications and future options. Melanie Barnett, Director of Children's Services, and Colin Foster, Chief Executive of Northamptonshire Children's Trust, alongside Andrew Tagg, Director of Finance for the Trust, outlined the significant pressures facing children's social care.

A major concern is the increasing reliance on residential care, which has seen a 96% increase in local authority spend over seven years. West Northamptonshire Council's budget for children's services has increased by 37% between 2021-22 and 2025-26, a trend mirrored nationally. The presentation highlighted that the primary driver of financial pressure is the cost of placements, particularly residential care, which has seen a significant increase in demand. In the 2025/26 financial year, there was an increase of 48 residential placements, with an average weekly cost of £6,000 per placement. This has led to a projected overspend of £17.4 million for West Northamptonshire Council.

The committee heard that while there has been a significant investment in developing local provision, including 10 new children's homes as part of a £20 million capital programme, the pace of delivery has been a point of discussion. Councillors expressed concern about the amount of the capital budget that had been spent to date, with forecasts suggesting over £16 million of projects were in the pipeline but very little had been spent.

Efforts to mitigate these pressures include a regional care cooperative bid, a fostering hub bid, and initiatives to increase the number of foster carers. The introduction of a needs-led payment system for foster carers has reportedly doubled enquiries. However, a significant challenge remains the disparity between the cost of residential care and fostering, with a stark difference in average weekly costs.

Discussions also touched upon the national context of children's services, with reference to a 2019 Ministry of Justice report that described Northamptonshire's children's services as one of the worst performing, yet most expensive, in the country. While progress has been made, with the council no longer considered the worst performing, the financial challenges persist.

A key area of discussion was the split of costs between West Northamptonshire Council and North Northamptonshire Council for children's services, which is currently based on a percentage split. A piece of work is underway to review this split based on data from the last three years, with a view to recalculating it retrospectively from April 2026. The differing profiles of children in care between the two areas – more babies and young children in the north, and more teenagers and young adults in the west – were acknowledged as potentially impacting costs.

The committee also discussed the issue of children being remanded into the custody of the local authority, with a strong sentiment that the Ministry of Justice should be recharged for these costs, rather than the local taxpayer.

Councillor Sally Keeble, Leader of the Labour Group, raised concerns about the lack of early intervention and prevention services, arguing that investing in these areas would be more cost-effective and lead to better outcomes for children. While initiatives like family hubs and a youth strategy are being developed, the pace of implementation and the need for greater coordination with health services were highlighted.

Budget Scrutiny Review Process

The committee reviewed its budget scrutiny process for the upcoming year, aiming to identify opportunities for improvement. The current process involves several stages, including committee meetings, budget briefings, task and finish panel meetings, and Cabinet engagement. However, councillors noted that the process was often concentrated late in the budget cycle, potentially limiting its impact.

Key themes emerging from the discussion included the need to:

• Engage earlier in the budget cycle: Rebalancing the process to focus more on the development of the draft budget before its publication.
• Focus on high-risk/priority areas: Using targeted task and finish panels to engage with services on specific issues, testing assumptions, and assessing the deliverability of savings.
• Improve the effectiveness of scrutiny: Ensuring that scrutiny adds value by being curious and constructive, rather than trying to design the budget itself.
• Consider the pace of change: A recurring sentiment was the desire for greater pace in implementing decisions and addressing challenges, particularly in areas like children's social care and the development of children's homes.

Recommendations for Future Action

Following extensive discussion, the committee agreed to make the following recommendations to Cabinet:

1. Local Plan Policy on Children's Homes: That the local plan should include a policy or Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) relating to West Northamptonshire Council's children's homes. This aims to provide a clearer framework for planning applications and potentially favour council-led developments.
2. Recharging the Ministry of Justice (MOJ): That the council formally writes to the Ministry of Justice to explore the possibility of recharging costs associated with children remanded into local authority care.
3. Accelerating Foster Care Recruitment: To investigate and recommend actions to accelerate the recruitment of foster carers, potentially including exploring incentives such as council tax relief, and to conduct a review of support for foster carers.
4. Capital Programme Governance and Pace: To scrutinise the pace of delivery and governance of the £20 million capital programme for children's services accommodation and to examine the governance of capital projects more broadly, following concerns raised by the Audit Committee regarding projects that have gone over budget.

The committee also acknowledged the need for continued monitoring of the Children's Trust's financial position and the budget scrutiny process itself, with a view to improving its effectiveness. A proposal for a more focused scrutiny of the Children's Trust was discussed, with a preference for a joint piece of work with other committees, focusing on future options and service provision.

The meeting also included updates on the provisional 2025/26 budget outturn, the Waste Collections and Cleansing Review, and the committee's work programme. The committee noted that the provisional outturn for 2025/26 indicated a forecast overspend, which would be funded from the Risk Reserve. The Waste Collections and Cleansing Review update confirmed that recommendations had been made and decisions taken, with a focus on communication plans. The committee's work programme was reviewed, with the Children's Social Care strategy, budget scrutiny, and waste collections being key items for future discussion.