Councillors have raised concerns over a decision to stop carrying out interviews with some children who go missing from care in Staffordshire.
Since 2024, Staffordshire County Council has funded return home interviews, known as RHIs, for children in the care of other authorities who have been placed in the county.
This is a non statutory service. Councils are only legally required to provide RHIs for children in their own care, regardless of where they are placed.
In December, Councillor Nicholas Lakin, cabinet member for children and young people at the Reform UK led council, made the decision to cease funding RHIs for children who are looked after by other authorities but placed in Staffordshire.
Under the decision, the remaining funding for 2025 to 2026 would be redirected towards RHIs for children in the care of Staffordshire County Council who are placed outside the county.
However, the move has been called in by 13 councillors from the council’s ruling group, who have raised concerns about the potential safety implications for vulnerable children.
The call in will be considered by the corporate overview and scrutiny committee when it meets on Monday 12 January.
A delegated decision report states that the council’s social worker teams are facing “high pressures” and that the number of statutory RHIs being successfully completed “needs to improve”.
It says that diverting funding away from non statutory RHIs would help address this issue, and notes that “delivering RHIs to this cohort of children is the statutory duty of the local authority placing the child in Staffordshire”.
But councillors who have called in the decision say the change could place some children at increased risk.
Councillor Anthony Screen said,
“My concern is clear. If we are not fully aware of the risks and do not openly recognise them, we cannot effectively tackle them. RHIs are a critical tool for identifying exploitation indicators and understanding why children go missing.”
Councillor Andrew Mynors added,
“I think children missing from home need to be interviewed and this needs to be debated and all angles looked at in more detail.”
The committee will now consider both the decision and the reasons for the call in. Members can choose to support the original decision, refer it back to cabinet or the relevant decision maker, or refer the matter to full council if they believe it is of exceptional significance.
