North Tyneside Council's children's services are facing financial pressures totalling over £13m - as Covid, cost of living pressures and even international crises continue to impact the service.
Children's services at the local authority currently have the capacity to meet the needs of 1,400 children. However, according to council documents, the service is straining with 1,700 children.
Referrals to the service, from police and schools, have also increased by 25% since the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of children in care in North Tyneside sits at 364.
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According to the local authority's report on the issue, the major contributing factors to the number of children in care are parental mental health issues, stemming from lockdown restrictions, and domestic abuse. The cost of living crisis has also been recognised as exacerbating both problems.
Jon Ritchie, North Tyneside Council's director of resources said: "Children's services is the big challenge both in terms of the absolute number but also through underlying pressures that are currently coming through. North Tyneside has taken into account the levels of deprivation and we are now experiencing the pressures later than other authorities.
"There is a recognition nationally, and we are starting to see funding flow, that these pressures cannot be addressed within individual local authorities.
"It will continue to be an area of close scrutiny in the next couple of years because the numbers are that much higher than they were previously."
Council officers also informed councillors there will be increased pressure owing to an increase in the number of unaccompanied asylum seeker children the authority has been told by the central Government to accommodate.
The authority has been looking after 25 such children, however, this is expected to rise to around 40. Despite additional funding from the central Government, the increase in unaccompanied children is likely to cost the council around £226,000.
Riverside Labour councillor Bruce Pickard questioned whether future budgets would need reviewing and restructuring so children's services "don't have to chase around for money instead of looking after children".
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