Number of Wigan teens declaring themselves homeless doubles in a year

A total of 50 children presented themselves to Wigan Council as homeless in the year up to April 2020, twice the total in the previous year – and 15 of them were assessed to be homeless or at the point of facing homelessness.

It comes as the council’s children’s social care chiefs have reported an increase in sexual and criminal exploitation of children in the borough.

There has also been an increased prevalence in children aged 13 and over with mental health needs who require support when they are discharged from hospital being referred to the local authority in the last six to 12 months.

Shirley Parkinson, service lead for provider services in children’s social care, told a scrutiny committee on Tuesday that demand for care placements is rising with 100 more children now in the council’s care compared to last year.

She said: “It was quite a challenging picture prior to Covid. Covid has really compounded those issues.

“I think it was fair to say that, like other authorities, we are finding it very challenging.

“The data is pointing to a trajectory of children in care numbers being likely to increase. With the numbers increasing, so will the demand for placements.”

The children’s services department has worked with the joint intelligence unit at the council to forecast the number of care placements that will be needed.

It found that the provision of placements is not rising in line with demand.

There were also some concerning ‘key themes’ in the analysis about the numbers of teenagers presenting as homeless, an increased prevalence of children and young people who are subject to sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation and a ‘marked increase’ in children with mental health issues.

Leigh West councillor Dane Anderton asked whether the police is following up on these lines of inquiry, sharing data and being held to account as a partner.

Ms Parkinson said: “We work very closely with our complex safeguarding team who have daily governance arrangement meetings with colleagues in the police so we’re very acutely aware of the risks here.

“What we do try to do, we try to make sure that when it’s in their interest to move them away from borough so we can break that chain of criminality and start to address some of those behaviours.

“There aren’t many children who that applies to in Wigan, but there have been some cases.

“So we’re absolutely working in tune with complex safeguarding and the police in addressing this and making sure that we can break those cycles.”

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