Following comments from the WLGA claiming children’s services in
Wales are nearly at “crisis point,” the Welsh Liberal Democrats
have warned that a rigorous approach to children’s services is
necessary to secure the quality services needed.
The past nine years have seen a 149% increase in court
applications to remove children into care. Whilst between March
2009 and March 2007 there was a 27% increase in the number of
children in care in Wales.
Cllr Rhys Taylor, Welsh Liberal Democrat Equalities
Spokesperson commented:
“Whilst the WLGA are right to highlight financial constraints as
a key issue, increased budgets on their own will not be
sufficient to deal with these issues.
“We need to take a comprehensive approach to children’s services.
We won’t be able to deal with the issues within children’s
services if we cannot tackle the factors causing increased demand
on services. Councils should adopt best practice from the six
local authorities that have reduced their number of
looked-after-children.
“We must place an even greater emphasis on preventative and early
intervention services. We can stop problems from occurring at all
and deal with other issues earlier, saving money and improving
children’s lives as a result.”
Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, added:
“Where safe to do so, our priority must always be keeping
children with families. In a substantial majority of cases,
keeping children with families leads to healthier, happier
children. Early intervention services have a key role to play in
facilitating this.
“Where safe we must ensure that children remain as close to home
as possible to allow children to maintain the friendships and
community links they’ve built up. Far too many children are sent
outside of their counties or even across the border to England,
causing difficulties for themselves and their families.”
