Further to my concerns that the Conversion Practices Bill will unleash the Law of Unintended Consequences by increasing the number of care proceedings in family courts and also the need for additional foster care placements, now worrying news that the cost of supporting children in care has risen by a billion pounds in just one year. It would be a terrible consequence indeed if its this Bill that pushes many LAs into bankruptcy. "Councils spent £9.5 billion on support for looked after children in 2025/26, compared to £6.6 billion in 2022/23, according to latest government data – an annual average increase of roughly £1 billion over the three years from 2022/23. Adjusting for inflation, council spend has increased by almost a third (29.1 per cent) in this period. The pressure on council budgets is also made clear by the continued presence of in-year overspends – a cumulative £3.2 billion overspend over this period – as councils have been hit with escalating in-year costs. The LGA says the figures are largely a result of astronomical care costs. Previous research by the LGA found the number of children’s home placements costing £10,000 or more per week increased from 120 to 1,500 between 2018 and 2023" Will be discussing this at #BattleFest on Sunday 18 October tinyurl.com/2tm2zh6d

Response from @ebswa on the Conversion Practices Bill ebswa.org/post/why-the-draft…