The number of Dudley borough children in care fell slightly last year according to the latest council statistics.

At the end of the last administrative year, on 31 March 2024, there were 574 children in care. On the same date in 2023 there were 588 children in care.

Last year’s figures show a total of  723 people aged under 17 passed though the care system during the administrative year and councillors were told 79.1 percent of cases were reviewed within statutory time limits against a target of 95 per cent.

Officers or social workers being unavailable was the main reason for delays, however, in four cases a lack of paperwork was the reason for reviews not being held on time.

Committee chair, Cllr Qasim Mughal, said: “A lack of paperwork seems like quite a poor reason, surely the paperwork should be done.”

Cornelia Heaney, Dudley head of safeguarding, practice and quality assurance, said: “That is an avoidable reason, we have mechanisms and management oversight – that needs to be improving, I’d like to get close to zero.”

Ms Heaney told councillors it was unlikely, for reasons that could not be helped, that all reviews could be completed on time but she was optimistic things were getting better.

She said: “Our target is close to 100 per cent but not 100 per cent, I think it will be better next year – there is more consistency of social workers.

“There is a much-reduced turnover of social workers.”

The report also revealed of the children who left Dudley’s care, 29 per cent returned home, 12 per cent became adults and went into independent living while 18 per cent became adults but stayed in the care system.

Other reasons for leaving included special guardianship orders (12 per cent) and adoption (nine per cent) while two youngsters were sentenced to custody and one child died while in council care.

The number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Dudley’s care on 31 March 2024 was 14, which was four less than the same date in 2023.