Family court judge describes near £300,000 17-week specialist placement cost as “astronomical”

According to the BBC, Liverpool Family Court heard the teenager, who had been involved in organised crime and was considered at risk of exploitation, would "benefit enormously" from the placement.

Judge Steven Parker said he was familiar with the provider and had no concerns with the standard of its service, but noted the "staggering" £17,000 per week cost.

He said: "That cost clearly demonstrates, yet again, that local authorities are at the mercy of the private sector, and I am, time and again presented with cases where a local authority has secured provision that can cost anything between £12,000 and £20,000 per week.

"That is now a regular feature in this sort of case and the concern is that local authorities just cannot continue to fund places at that astronomical cost."

The judge noted that the only alternative was unregulated accommodation which he said was often as expensive and could be ineffective.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge agreed to impose a Deprivation of Liberty Order to facilitate the teenager being accommodated at the centre.

Last month, Ofsted said it will no longer deal with social care registration applications “solely in order of the date they are received”, but will prioritise applications that address the shortage of placements for those children in most urgent need.

In June, the regulator warned that the “unprecedented” number of applications were taking longer than usual to register - with the total number of children’s home applications in the last 12 months being “almost double” the figure for the previous year. 

The Department for Education has been approached for comment.

Lottie Winson