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Annual Looked After Children (LAC) report 2024 - 2025

Committee report · Cabinet · Tue 16 Dec 2025 · East Sussex County Council

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The minutes record: Noted. “RESOLVED to note the annual progress report of Looked After Children’s Services in 2024/25. Reasons 44.3 The report summarises the performance of Looked After Children’s Services in 2024/25. </AI9> <AI10> 45. Treasury Management - Stewardship Report 2024/25 and Mid-Year Review 2025/26 45.1 The Cabinet considered a report by the Chief Operating Officer. 45.2 It was” minutes ↗

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Recommended · This went to the meeting on Tue 16 Dec 2025. What was decided is in that meeting's minutes.

During 2024-25, 908 children were looked after by East Sussex County Council, an increase of 20 on the previous year, and 688 children were in care at the end of the year, 31 more than the previous year. p6

More children are being placed in agency residential placements, and more of these placements are located outside the county. p6p7

The report says the increase in agency residential placements, particularly high-cost placements for children with complex needs, is putting unsustainable pressure on the budget. p9

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  • p61 Background 1.1 The Annual Report is attached as Appendix 1. 2 Supporting information 2.1 D uring the course of 2024-25 a total of 908 children were looked after by East Sussex County Council, an increase of 20 compared to the previous year. At the end of the year there were 688 children in care, 31 more than the previous year. This increase was driven mainly by fewer numbers of children leaving care, and children remaining in care for longer. 2.2 We have continued to see high levels of complex presentation across children’s mental health, neurodiversity, behaviours that challenge and complex family dynamics. These needs intersect with poor school attendance and/or children who are not able to access a suitable school place. 2.3 28% of the children in our care identified as being from an ethnic minority or mixed heritage background. 128 were separated migrant children under the age of 18 and 193 separated migrant care leavers aged 18+. 44 children came to us through the National Transfer Scheme, and the remainder were spontaneous arrivals via police involvement or directly from Newhaven Port. 2.4 We continue to find family-based homes for most children in our care and have seen very positive activity across fostering recruitment. 2024-25 saw the highest number of fostering enquiries in five years and a strong conversion rate of 33% from home visit to approval. This led to 30 new fostering households being approved in 2024/25 with 47 places, which resulted in a net increase of 17 fostering households and 25 places. Of all our children living with foster carers as at 31 March 2025, 76% were placed in-house, significantly higher than the national average for 2023/24 of 60% in-house utilisation. 2.5 However, in line with national and regional trends we are placing more children in agency residential placements and more of these placements are located outside of the county.
  • p7This movement is driven both by the increase in children’s complex presentation and a national shortage of fostering households. This means that some children who could be placed with foster carers are living in residential children’s homes which is a trend that we are working hard to reverse. 2.6 Significantly fewer children have experienced 3 or more placement moves during the year, this reflects careful matching and the skilled support provided to carers. Our in-house fostering service and commissioning team provide critical oversight to ensure the quality and sustainability of homes for our children. 2.7 Adoption South East placed 82 children for adoption in 2024-25, 21 of these were from East Sussex which was an increase of 6 children on the previous year. 2.8 Our in-house Residential Children’s Homes, Children’s Disability Homes and Lansdowne Secure Children’s Home have been working closely together to align practice and share expertise. In 2024-25 we increased occupancy across all homes and are caring for children with increasingly complex needs. All homes are currently rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted. 2.9 Health outcomes for children in care are known to be poorer than for their peers. In East Sussex we work closely with Health colleagues to address this inequality. Initial and Review Health Assessments remain an area of focus alongside the improvement in dental care. Immunisation data available at the time of writing indicates that 81% of children had received their expected vaccinations, however this is being further scrutinised as we believe the actual figure to be higher. Our Looked After Children Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (LACAMHS) offers valuable consultation and informs the therapeutic model in our residential children’s homes. Completion of Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQs) has shown significant improvement following the introduction of a new process.
  • p93. Conclusion and reasons for recommendations 3.1 Overall performance is encouraging, remaining consistent despite the demand pressures. However, the increase in agency residential placements, particularly high-cost placements for children with complex needs is putting unsustainable pressure on the budget. The service is attempting to mitigate this through robust scrutiny of costs, a focus on Heading Home (reunification within the family network) and building creative care plans whilst maintaining a focus on children’s needs and delivering safe services. Children’s Social Care Reform and Regionalisation offer exciting opportunities to develop practice and share skills. 3.2 Cabinet is recommended to note the contents of the report.

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