07-08-2025
Council's £2m care package for single child 'should be investigated'
Calls have been made for an inquiry into the 'eye-watering' £2m a year fee a North Wales council is paying for the care of a single child. At a meeting last month, Denbighshire Council's chief executive Graham Boase revealed the authority is paying £35K a week in care bills for just one child – and the figure was later revised to £37.5K a week.
Consequently, the huge sum means the council is paying nearly £2m a year for the child, who has significant disabilities, complex behaviour needs, and requires 24-hour care. Mr Boase revealed the figure whilst attempting to explain the financial strain the authority was under, describing social care costs not seen by the public.
But the revelation has now led to Care Forum Wales writing to the Auditor General for Wales, Adrian Crompton. The 'social care champions' want the Auditor General to investigate the £2m bill for the child. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox.
Care Forum Wales says it is concerned the huge bill represents inequality within a social care system, claiming care providers looking after older, vulnerable people have to battle for funding from local councils. The organisation is concerned that whilst Denbighshire Council pays £37,500 a week for the care of one child, the authority pays just '£774 a week to fund residential care for an older person in the county'.
Care Forum Wales chair Mario Kreft MBE said: 'There needs to be an inquiry into this, based on the inequality on how we fund older people's services. I think the Auditor General who's the head of Audit Wales needs to scrutinise this thoroughly with a proper inquiry so we can get to the bottom of this. And I think it's about the court of public opinion as well. I think the public needs to understand what's going on with this.
'Denbighshire are notoriously poor payers when it comes to funding adult social care. In fact, they are just about the lowest of the low. My question to the council would be have they done a cost of care review on this placement for this child, as they would for an older person, because none of us can get our heads around how it can possibly be £2m a year.'
He added: 'That figure is totally extraordinary, so you're asking who signed it off and on what basis. How can that figure possibly be correct? It's an eye-watering sum of money. The bigger question is the inequality around this, the imbalance in the system. It's a council which wants to reduce fees all the time, always looking to penny-pinch.'
Mr Kreft runs the Pendine Park Care Organisation, one of the biggest and most successful care home groups in the region. In the last financial year it posted gross profits of just over £11m.
A spokesman for Denbighshire County Council commented: 'All packages of care for children or young people in Denbighshire are reviewed in line with the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 and associated codes of practice and regulations, with all packages of support signed off by the head of children's services, who bases their decision on the assessment of need presented by the case holding social worker.
'Every six weeks all high-cost children's placements are reviewed by our review panel, chaired by the head of children's services, with relevant service and team managers and (the) finance officer. The council has received a Freedom of Information request from Care Forum Wales on this particular case and will be responding with more detail through that formal process.'
The council spokesman said that the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 placed a duty on local authorities to assess and meet the eligible needs of both children and their carers. He added: 'The child in question has very complex needs which means that a high level of expert care is required in order to safeguard the child's welfare. The authority cannot provide any further information as this will potentially identify the child concerned.'
The spokesman went on to explain that every council has different annual funding settlements from Welsh Government, without addressing the fact that Denbighshire has enjoyed the highest percentage rise in North Wales in 2024 and 2025 alone.
'Each local authority has a different funding settlement and therefore must strike a very delicate balance of navigating challenging financial constraints and ensuring that we are maintaining a sustainable future for the care sector in Denbighshire. The cost of this care package has had no bearing on the setting of care fees for care providers in adult services,' he said.
'In determining our care fees each year, we undertake a consultation with care providers and for 2025 / 2026 Denbighshire invested in Care Cubed (a recognised care fee methodology) along with most of the other local authorities in North Wales to ensure a consistent approach across the region. Every care home provider in Denbighshire is encouraged to discuss their care fees with the local authority and using Care Cubed will work out the cost of care and agree fees. Denbighshire currently funds approximately 382 placements across 85 care homes.
'The total projected cost for older people's residential and nursing care during 2025/26 is £15.2m. With social care making up nearly a third of the average council tax bill in Denbighshire, it is vital that we take a fair and sustainable approach to funding care within Denbighshire.'
Leader Cllr Jason McLellan added: 'Denbighshire County Council having to fund packages of care at this cost is very rare but reflects the very complex needs of this child, whom the authority is caring for.' Audit Wales was contacted for a comment.
