ASSURANCES have been given that children's services will be protected as Blaenau Gwent council faces an overspend of more than £1million in the department.

Leader of the council, Cllr Nigel Daniels, told a full meeting of the council on Thursday that the issue would continue to be a priority after concerns were raised that the authority was "slipping into a disaster."

'Optimistic' predictions that the number of looked after children would fall this year has led to a projected overspend of £1.076m in children's services.

Cllr Stephen Thomas, leader of the opposition Labour group, called it an "alarming situation" and said there was a worry that the authority could be "slipping into a disaster."

"Clearly going forward it's a huge worry because it's coming towards an unsustainable position," he said.

Cllr Thomas asked whether the council would be looking to allocate money from its reserves to help resolve the issue.

In response, Cllr Daniels (Independent) said he could not give a 'commitment' but that the intention was not to use reserves as the council seeks to set a balanced budget.

He added: "We are committed to looked after children, we are committed to social services across the board as we are committed to education."

Cllr Daniels said the issue was concerning but added: "We will take it extremely seriously and we will act responsibly."

He also pointed out that several other local authorities were in a similar position.

Damien McCann, who is the council’s director of social services, said the authority was continuing to monitor the situation on a regular basis.

The predicted overspend came after an increase in the number of children's residential placements, from 15 to 17, since last March.

But Mr McCann said the number of looked after children in the authority has recently fallen to 222, from a previous high of 237, with signs that the council's safe reduction strategy was having an effect.

The council is also working with Monmouthshire County Council to develop a new therapeutic fostering service, which could help reduce the number of residential placements.

Mr McCann said the decision on approving the plan is now with Monmouthshire council's cabinet member and is expected 'imminently.'

The council may also be able to benefit from new grant funding announced by the Welsh Government for social care, the meeting heard.