A Coventry councillor has admitted that a shortage of foster parents in the city is costing millions of pounds every year.

The social services department has overspent by £2.5 million and a massive £2.2 million of that has been spent on placing children in foster homes outside the Coventry area.

Now Binley and Willenhall councillor John Mutton is appealing to any potential foster parents in the city to come forward.

He said: 

"We place around 500 children in foster care each year for various different reasons, for instance it could be by order of a judge that they are removed from their guardians.

"Of these 60 are in residential care of ours within the city, 100 are staying with friends or relatives and 270 are placed in foster homes either in Coventry or close by.

"This leaves a shortfall of 70 which is where the problems and the extra expenditure comes in."

If there are no places available within the city then the council turns to outside agencies to find places for the children elsewhere in the country – at massive cost.

Mutton said:

"If we place a child within a home in Coventry the average cost is around £300 per week, which covers the keep of that child and the care that they receive during that time.

"When we go to an agency the price for a place for the child can be between £1,000 and £2,600 per week depending on the individual, which is a scandalous amount of money."

However, Mutton stresses that the lack of foster carers is not a problem that is unique to Coventry, and believes there are several reasons for the decline in people coming forward.

He said: 

"Last year we lost 25% of our carers and I think there are many factors including the amount of women who now work full time.

"Society has changed and people are not coming forward, which we need to address."