Stoke-on-Trent City Council will not achieve a planned £2.9m saving on children's care placements, councillors have been told. The shortfall is expected to force the authority to make spending cuts elsewhere in its budget.

The council's budget for the current year included proposals to reduce reliance on external residential placements for children in care through "targeted step-down activity". However, officers have now predicted the anticipated saving will not be achieved.

Shortage of Foster Carers

The main reason for the missed target is a shortage of foster carers in the city. This means more children have had to be placed with private sector providers, which have increased their charges.

Sarah Jane Colclough, cabinet member for children's services, said the authority was in "challenging times" and did not have sufficient capacity. She noted that the numbers of children in care had slightly reduced since the report was written, but added there was still a long way to go.

Children in Care Numbers

Stoke-on-Trent has more looked after children than many other authorities across the country, putting the council under significant financial strain. The number of children in care in the city fell from 1,118 to 1,057 over the past 12 months, but this reduction has not yet translated into lower spending on placements.

Profiteering in Sector

Neil Macdonald, corporate director for children and family services, said "profiteering" in the private care sector was a big problem for councils nationally.

The authority is exploring other ways to reduce spending, including moving older teenagers into supported accommodation where appropriate and increasing the use of kinship carers — where a child is placed with a member of their extended family. However, Macdonald said access to foster care remained the biggest challenge for the service.

The council has requested more than £60m of bailout loans from the government over the past three years, largely due to its high spending on children in care. Officers will continue to look for other potential savings.