THE man in charge of the county’s children’s services has warned a surge in cases on the back of Operation Bullfinch and other child abuse scandals is leading to huge pressure on his department.

Jim Leivers, director of children’s services at Oxfordshire County Council, said this and a reduction in money from the Government to tackle the issue was leading to a “perfect storm”.

He added a £2.5m overspend was already forecast for the end of this financial year, due to the continued increase in the number of children coming into care.

The local authority currently has about 640 children being closely monitored by social workers through so-called child protection plans, more than ever before. That number has more than doubled in the past five years.

At any one time, Mr Leivers said there were about 2,500 “open cases” dealt with by children’s services.

But he said there were concerns the caseloads of social workers were rising, placing staff under extra strain.

Mr Leivers told the Oxford Mail: “We expected to see a surge when we published the [Bullfinch] serious case review, but this ongoing rise in numbers is not just from that.

“They are, in the main, cases of neglect and we have more children placed in child protection plans this month than we have ever had in Oxfordshire.

“They are onerous and the caseload for social workers is also going up.

“We are performing well in all the things we need to, but what we are worried about is we aim for social workers to each have caseloads that are in the mid-teens, when now they are in the early 20s.”

A child is placed in a child protection plan if the county council believes they are at risk of harm.

Children can also be placed in a “child in need plan” if they need extra support but are not at risk of harm.

Mr Leivers said the rise in child protection plans was “complex” and part of a national trend, linked to higher public awareness of abuse cases.

It follows Operation Bullfinch in Oxford, the Rotherham child sex abuse scandal and the revelations about Jimmy Savile that emerged after his death in 2011.

Katharine Thompson of East Oxford children’s charity Viva said the rise in child protection cases was also due to reductions to welfare since 2010.

She said: “We’ve seen a rise in household poverty and family breakdowns and that has an effect on children, contributing to the pressure on social care.”

Former Oxfordshire social worker Mary Braybrooke, of Clifton Hampden, said more prevention work was needed to help families and children before crises.

The 80-year-old added: “A lot of social workers feel terribly pressured and demoralised at the moment and it makes their job more difficult.

“It is not just helping the clients, but also the bureaucracy which has changed a lot in the past 20 years.

“The emphasis needs to be on prevention and having people on the ground working with families. That will reduce the caseloads.”

It comes at a time when services supporting children and families – such as children’s centres and early intervention hubs – are facing budget reductions and major restructures.

As part of efforts to find £20m of extra savings in February, the county council agreed to cut £3.66m from the children, education and families budget.

It was on top of more than £264m of savings it has been forced to find across the board by 2018 because of government funding reductions.

Last Thursday Mr Leivers told a watchdog committee of councillors: “[The rise in demand] is something that is continuing to happen against reductions in services.

“It is creating a perfect storm for this directorate and I would not want to understate the seriousness of the situation.”

He warned that as more government cuts were announced, it was likely children’s services would have to be “targeted” at the most vulnerable.

This could result in working more with community groups and charities to offer services traditionally ran by the council, Mr Leivers said.

He added: “We have to think about what to do when we have statutory requirements to intervene but do not have the resources to deal with it.”

Ms Thompson said : “We are seeing local authorities now have significant constraints and there is a gap opening up that needs to be filled. Groups like ours need to take on some of the roles that the welfare state has traditionally had. The kind of support people need is the kind faith communities are well placed to provide, even if it is just help with homework, a safe place to come after school or help for those being bullied.”

THE PLANS

* If a child is deemed to be at continuing risk of “significant harm”– meaning they are at risk of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse or neglect – then a multi-agency child protection plan is created to protect them.

* This would come after a referral, usually from a third party such as a school.

* A group of professionals, including a lead social worker, is then responsible for monitoring the child.