Children as young as six are not getting the right type of protection in Conwy because of a growing crisis in care.

A startling report before councillors in Conwy warned that a lack of cash and growing demands to care for the most vulnerable of children has lead to care companies “picking and choosing” the kids they’re willing to look after.

The report lays out how the the crisis, which it says is happening all over the country, is hitting some of society’s most vulnerable children including those at risk of abuse and neglect.

Members of the finance scrutiny committee meeting on Monday will be told that the county’s Looked After Children Service will have an overspend by £1.1 million this year.

This is made up of an overspend of £1.8 million on independent placements which is off set by underspends in fostering and leaving care money and the underspend in fostering is due to a lack of foster carers in Conwy.

These budget problems have combined with increasing demand for looked after children meaning that some are not getting the right care.

In Wales over the past decade there has been a 25 per cent increase in the number of children looked after and a 32 per cent rise in the number of children placed on the child protection register.

This has meant that in the last 18 months some  at risk children have not been able to find a foster placement and have had to be placed in a care home.

Increasing demand for such care has lead to a rise in the number of private companies but these are still not enough to meet all the requirements.

Demand is so high that independent agencies have thrown out difficult cases with just 24 hours notices, confident that they can find another child to care for without losing money.

The report said: “This too has contributed to repeat rejections for some of the most vulnerable children. There are two examples of this in Conwy which resulted in residential placements for a six and an eight year old. Foster placements could not be found for either child due to behaviours – which historically would have been managed by foster carers with additional support.”

It added: “An additional impact has been that there is little, often no opportunity to match children coming into care to the most suitable placement. Children are placed wherever there is a bed available and this has resulted in an increase in placement disruptions / break downs. Providers are in a position to ‘pick and choose’ from the children waiting and so inevitably opt to care for the least complex children.

“An extremely concerning trend emerging within the Independent Fostering

Agency sector is the increasing occurrences where 24hr ‘notice’ is given to end placements and children having to be moved without an opportunity to plan or search for a suitable placement. Due to the demand the IFA knows they will be able to re-fill that placement immediately, without carrying a void, and may hope for a less complex child.”

There is also a big difference in cost between foster care and residential placement with fostering costing an average of £45,000 and a placement costing £255,000 on average.

To cut costs and demands council staff are having to look at reducing the number of children admitted to care.

A number of options have been looked at by the council to reduce these numbers including working with other councils, intensive interventions early on in cases to prevent them getting to the care stage and restructuring the fostering service.

Cllr Cheryl Carlisle, Cabinet Member for Children, Family and Safeguarding, said: “This situation is not likely to improve, and we are working extremely hard to bring in- house and regional solutions to fruition as soon as possible, which will lead to better outcomes for our children, and reduced financial pressures for Conwy. The safety and wellbeing of our Looked After Children will always be paramount.”