Dumfries and Galloway Council faces rising costs for children's care outside region

Sky-high education costs are adding a six-figure sum to Dumfries and Galloway Council’s already enormous bill for children in residential care outside the region.

A new report going before the social work committee next Tuesday reveals that four young people are in placements that include education provision, costing £890 per week each just for schooling.

Combined, that adds up to £3,560 every week. Based on a Scottish school year of around 38 weeks, the education element alone works out at more than £135,000 a year, before a single penny of residential care costs is counted.

The report states that these four young people are in placements “at an average weekly education cost of £890 per young person. These costs have increased significantly and continue to contribute to overall budget pressures.”

Those care fees are enormous too. The average price of a residential placement has shot up from £225,625 in 2022/23 to £377,811 this year, a 49 percent rise in just four years.

Currently, 27 children from Dumfries and Galloway are in residential placements. Of those, 16 are housed outside the region entirely, with out-of-area placements consistently the most expensive.

Nine are placed within external provision in Dumfries and Galloway itself.

The social work report warns that costs are expected to stay high because many of these children have complex needs that are difficult and costly to meet.

A growing number of children with severe autism and learning disabilities are among those requiring the most expensive placements, often because there simply isn’t suitable local provision available.

Over 70 percent of children in external placements are aged between 11 and 16, with 15-year-olds making up the largest group.

All of this underlines the urgent need for the council to open its own children’s homes. Two new facilities, one in Dumfries and one in Newton Stewart, are expected to open by mid-2028.