Councillors share 'alarming' Hertfordshire care figures potentially costing extra £5m per year

Latest data published by the council shows that between May and September this year (2025), the number of children in care in the county increased by 47, from 872 to 919.

Over the same period, the average cost of a ‘placement’ for a child in care increased by £113 a week, from £1,851 to £1,964.

Leader of the council’s Conservative group, Cllr Richard Roberts, estimates that the increase in numbers and placement costs would cost the council an additional £5m over 12 months.

He raised his concerns on Tuesday, when the data was presented to the resources and performance cabinet panel.

According to the finance report shared with the panel, 919 is the highest number of children in care in Hertfordshire since May 2022.

At the meeting, Cllr Roberts told members the number of children coming into care was now “quite alarming” – suggesting that the cost implications were not reflected in the information presented to councillors.

He also warned that the increased number of children in care could also impact the quality of care provided.

He warned that if too many children needed support, the council would lose control of the kind of care that could be provided, suggesting that costs would then often “go through the roof”.

He told councillors that the balance between making sure children are safe in their families, and the number of children coming into care was “one of the great juggling acts” that they have as corporate parents.

“I have seen when we lose control of the children coming into care – and at that point the council starts to really struggle,” he said.

Cllr Roberts suggested that the data presented to councillors in a graph “looks like it is going in the wrong direction”.

Yet he suggested that the language used to describe it in the report was “not raising alarm bells”.

In response, head of corporate finance Scott Walker told councillors that this was one of the biggest risks in the council’s financial budget – and that it was monitored “very closely” throughout the year.

He referenced the monitoring of savings programmes, including the building of in-house residential properties, increased fostering and programmes to return children home.

He also suggested that a couple of years earlier, the number of children in care in the county had been higher than the current level of 919.

And he said the council’s budget did allow for a steady increase in numbers and placement costs, acknowledging the “very tricky market conditions”.

Nevertheless, he suggested that if the pattern continued, there would be “more alarm bells”.

“But hopefully we are bringing in enough controls and mitigations in those places and more scrutiny, so hopefully we will see a plateauing,” he said.