Future of social services 'at risk' due to £69m council overspend

Support for vulnerable people across Wales is at risk because of a £69m overspend in social care, council leaders have said.

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), which represents Welsh councils, said social services responded to nearly 450,000 contacts in 2023-24 – an 8% rise on the previous year.

They warned that without long-term investment from the Welsh government, essential care for children, families and older people would become harder to sustain.

The Welsh government said there had been a significant amount of investment in social care and councils had received a 4% rise in their budgets to help fund services.

As a manager for children and family support services in Bridgend, Kayleigh Roper and her team aim to keep children at home safely with their parents wherever they can, but said it was becoming increasingly difficult.

"Things for families are harder, we've got families who are being pushed further into poverty and are more marginalised.

"We've got a lack of resources in the community which makes things really, really difficult for our families," she said.

The number of referrals to her team has increased year on year with the cases becoming more complex.

Since April 2018, nearly 5,000 children have been referred to "edge of care" support in Bridgend, with 94% managing to stay out of the care system.

Latest figures show the number of children in care in the county had reduced from 395 in 2023 to 370 in 2024.

Across Wales, that number had risen from 5,745 in 2014 to 7,200 in 2024.

Councils, including Bridgend, were trying to work with families earlier to prevent children being removed.

The Baby in Mind service is for parents at risk of having their child removed.

Specialist health visitor Sarah Terrett said the service started in Bridgend eight years ago because the council had really high rates of babies being taken into care.

The team supports families to become the best parents they can be.

Terrett said families were often living in chaos and faced multiple challenges such as poor housing, finances, mental health and a lack of family support.

"[They] may have no-one around them and they're being asked to jump through fire burning hoops and that can be overwhelming."

She added it was "amazing" to keep families together.

The pressures on children's services, and social services more widely, are not unique to Bridgend.

Councils across Wales say they are facing increased pressure and have fewer resources across both adult and children's services.

Claire Marchant, chair of the Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru (ADSS Cymru), said stable, long-term funding was urgently needed for social care services.

"Social care has to be a priority for any incoming government.

"The demographic challenges we're facing mean this is not an issue that can be sidelined.

"If we don't take those steps around sustained long-term investment then the impact on our whole health and care system will be detrimental," she said.

ADSS Cymru also wants a pay progression framework for the social care workforce which is equal to the NHS.

Dawn Bowden, minister for children and social care, said there had been significant investment, adding that the Welsh government had tried to protect frontline services despite UK government budget cuts to the Welsh budget.

"We saw a change of government in the UK and as a result of that change what we've started to see now is money start to flow into Welsh government in a way that we haven't seen for the last 14 years."

She said that meant Welsh government could give councils a 4% uplift on their budgets to help pay for social care, adding that Welsh Labour had a clear ambition for equal pay with the NHS and was committed to the real living wage and establishing a fair pay agreement.

The Liberal Democrats said social care must be treated as a national priority, adding it would deliver a "rescue package" funded by existing Senedd budgets or from money owed to Wales from Westminster.

A spokesperson for the Green Party said it would extend Flying Start and expand free childcare as well as "properly" fund family support teams, adding for adult care it would focus on keeping people mentally, physically and socially active and social care would work with public health, primary care, community groups and the third sector.

Plaid Cymru said it was "serious about building on the work the party started in moving towards an integrated health and care service so that patients can access care when and where they need it".

"That means reforming social care, rebalancing investment into primary care and truly moving towards a preventative agenda to keep people healthier for longer."

Reform MS James Evans said social care in Wales was "in limbo".

"A Reform UK Welsh government will review social care, in order to develop a fully costed integration framework between health and social care with clear accountability and a focus on outcomes," he added.

Peter Fox, Conservative health spokesman, said that there was a "need to focus on the whole care sector".

"We need a thorough workforce plan to drive the change", and "far better integration between health and social care", he added.