1:10pm Wednesday 17th March 2010
By Nicola Fifield
A GOVERNMENT decision to stop charging local authorities almost £5,000 in legal fees to take a child into care has been welcomed by York’s head of children’s services.
The move comes following a review that found the cost of legal fees had deterred some councils from applying for court orders in child protection cases.
Coun Carol Runciman, executive member for children and young people’s services at City of York Council, said the introduction of a new system of fees two years ago had not deterred them from taking cases to court, but it had put a strain on the authority’s finances.
As reported in The Press earlier this month, City of York Council is facing an expected overspend of £1.5 million this financial year in its budget for children in care.
Coun Runciman said: “We take our responsibility to look after vulnerable children very seriously and it is not something that we are willing to compromise because of the cost.
“Therefore we welcome this move by the Ministry of Justice. It is right that these very serious and complex cases should not be further complicated by the need to worry about budgets.”
Figures previously reported by The Press show the number of York children in care has rocketed by 42 per cent since the tragic death of Baby P.
At the end of March 2007, 157 children were in the care of City of York Council - a figure that shot up to 223 by the end of December 2009.
Coun Runciman said: “The number of children coming into the care of City of York Council is continuing to increase.
“This is partly due to increased awareness following the publicity surrounding the Baby Peter case and also due to young people staying with their foster carers longer as they continue on to college and university.”
In its announcement, the Ministry of Justice said it would scrap legal fees for child care cases in April 2011.
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