TOWN halls need a urgent cash injection to cope with rising demand on social services, the children’s commissioner for England has said, as bosses in the borough continue reforms aimed at bringing a "radical shift" for vulnerable youngsters.

Several authorities across Greater Manchester were unable to balance their books last year with rising levels of family poverty and the cost of accommodation children increasing, according to recent figures.

Wigan was one of only two councils- along with Trafford- not reporting an overspend although the town hall has said rising numbers of "complex cases" are adding significant financial pressures.

The council had planned to deliver £4m savings last year, a target that was not met and has been pushed back into 2018/19.

The reforms- based around the "No Wrong Door" approach, with additional focus on authority run foster care and cutting outside agency costs- is hoped to deliver efficiency savings and improve life chances, the council says.

However, with other councils having to divert cash to plug increasing budget black holes- with authorities such as Northamptonshire, Torbay and East Sussex having to cut services to a bare minimum- calls have been made for ministers to find a solution to rising demand.

Anne Longfield, the children’s commissioner for England, said many youngsters are not now getting basic help early enough due to the pressures on children’s services departments and cuts to other areas of support such as youth centres and Sure Starts.

The government has a "moral imperative" to urgently address the situation, she said.

Analysis of children’s services budgets across Greater Manchester shows most are now also unable to balance the books, between them facing a shortfall of at least £25m a year due to soaring pressures.

Budget reports to councils across the region describe similar patterns of rising demand and soaring costs for care placements, most of which are provided by the private market.

There is a particular shortage of places for children with complex needs, such as those who self-harm, are violent or have significant disabilities.

Official government figures for the numbers of children in care only run up to March 2017, but in Manchester, Tameside and Oldham alone – where all three councils are struggling to recover from damning Ofsted inspections and all are under particular financial pressure – there has been a 13 per cent increase since then, with around 2,500 children now in the system across the three boroughs.

During the year to March 2018, Stockport saw a 23 per cent rise and Wigan a 7 per cent increase, while Bolton saw a 9 per cent rise in the year to last December.

However, according to a recent performance report, the number of looked after children in the borough (479) represents a 6 per cent reduction since 2010.

Council bosses in Wigan have previously signalled in annual budget reports there is "increasing pressure on the system with more complex cases presenting to social care".

But, to date, services have not been cut.

Cllr Jenny Bullen, cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: “We have imported and adapted innovative practice such as "No Wrong Door", an approach developed in North Yorkshire.

“For Wigan’s looked after children and children on the edge of care this means a radical shift by putting young people’s strengths and aspirations at the forefront, so that they drive professional practice.

“We constantly strive for young people to live in family settings, inspired by the mantra "no child is unfosterable". We are always planning with adulthood in mind, taking into account children and young people’s aspirations and thinking about what life might be like for them at 21, 30 or 50 years old.

“We are confident that this approach will further reduce the number of children in care, the number of children placed in residential care, and out of the borough thus improving life chances and saving over £1m per year.”

 Anne Longfield, the children’s commissioner, said the crises in councils such as Northants or East Sussex are "just the extreme end of the situation that virtually every council in the land is facing", noting that the Local Government Association is forecasting a £2bn shortfall by 2020 in children’s services nationally.

At the same time many councils are having to find even more savings out of departments due to government austerity measures.

Wigan, for example, has forecast it will have to make further savings of £26m from 2019 to 2022.

Meanwhile the closure of other services – for the same reasons – is also compounding the risks now facing children as a result, she said, with more and more youngsters now slipping through the net.

“There has been a 60pc reduction in Sure Starts and youth services, both of which are the big preventative services,” she explained, pointing out that such low-level early help is what ought to stop children hitting crisis point and being placed in care.

“That takes away a safety net that means that the problems are left to develop and possibly escalate rather than be resolved.

“So there’s a big gap there in services- and what’s happening at the moment is a reduction in funding when demand is going up, meaning the decisions end up being about crisis.

“But the irony is the level of cost means the amount spent on children hasn’t reduced over the last ten years- it’s stayed the same, but fewer and fewer children are getting the help, which is unsustainable.

“I think there’s a moral question here that if you know how to reduce risk and prevent problems from developing for children, isn’t there a moral imperative to do it?

“That’s something that obviously in my view needs to change. Not doing so could be catastrophic for children.”

Cllr Bullen added: “Through The Deal services haven’t been cut, but how they are delivered and where they are delivered has been transformed. This approach is improving outcomes and saving money and we are confident this will continue.

“We recruited the fourth largest number of foster carers in the North West last year and want to recruit 100 extra foster carers by 2020.

"Every time the council places a child with an internal foster carer instead of a private foster carer we can save an average of £28,000 in costs applied by these agencies so it isn’t difficult to see why investing in high quality support for foster carers is a big priority.

“We are focused on providing permanent homes for children. Wigan is the second best performer in the country for the percentage of children that stop being in care because they are adopted.

“What’s different and perhaps unique about Wigan is having a clear single strategy that encompasses a whole system approach to reform through The Deal, the political commitment to working through this for the long term, and the willingness to invest to save.”

Wigan’s budget spend for 2017/18 was £41m, the town hall said.

A government spokesman said: “We want every child to have the best start in life, with the opportunities and the stability to fulfil their potential, which is why we have made £200bn available to councils up to 2020 for local services including those for children and young people.

“We also provide a further £270 million for councils to develop improvements in their service and create innovative programmes to improve the lives of these vulnerable children.”