Council 's £4m a year on foster care

Now Caerphilly council's social services director, Joe Howsam, (pictured) has said the authority wants to find more foster carers within the borough - a move which would cut the bill for out-of-county fostering placements.

On Tuesday the Argus revealed how a report criticised the social services department, saying there were delays and backlogs in people getting help, particularly for some children in need.

The joint review report by the Audit Commission and the Social Services Inspectorate for Wales also said the council was in a "vicious circle of overspending".

In April last year £4.9 million was being spent on 51 children in independent fostering and 25 children in placements outside Caerphilly county borough.

But now there are 48 children in independent fostering and 16 in out-of-county placements, which will cost around £4 million a year.

Mr Howsam said: "Obviously for the children who are settled and have been in their placements for some time, we would not want to rip them out and unsettle them. Some have been there four to five years."

But he said attempts were being made to put fewer children in to out-of-county placements, including finding more foster carers within Caerphilly county borough. He added, however, that some very seriously disabled children have very specific needs, and needed full-time care costing up to £330,000 a year each.

Meanwhile, the council's cabinet members have rejected calls for them to resign over the report.

Labour councillor Keith Griffiths had said the entire Plaid Cymru cabinet should step down after the report was released.

But cabinet member Councillor Darren Jones said: "Councillor Griffiths is playing politics with the lives of children and infirm people. The reason social services overspends is because of the volatile nature of the service.

"If Councillor Griffiths is saying there should be a threshold after which we should stop helping people, I challenge him to put it in a motion to the council."