A Dudley councillor declared she ‘would not give a toss’ if the council was down to its last pound as long as children were cared for.
Cllr Sue Ridney, Dudley shadow cabinet member for children and young people, was speaking at a meeting of the authority’s Social Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee on September 8.
The committee was told by senior officers that provision for the education of children with special needs was benefiting from the council’s finding extra venues to increase capacity near schools, which was also easing financial pressure.
A report signed by Gerard Jones, Dudley interim director of children’s services, said: “The cost saving for this cannot be underestimated.
“Work is ongoing to track the trajectory of pupils placed in these provisions and to assess the financial impact if these additional places had not been made available.”
Children’s services is one of Dudley’s biggest spenders with millions of pounds going on independent school places while demand continues to grow both in the borough and around the UK.
Cllr Ridney said: “We need to blow our own trumpet, we had toddlers and nursery children being transported from one end of the borough to the other to go to specialist provision and that was wrong.
“Let’s face it, there isn’t anywhere you can get to in Dudley before nine o’clock in the morning where you are not sitting in traffic for an hour.
“I am glad we have changed it to local provision.”
The Labour councillor turned her attention to recent financial problems at the council which left it facing effective bankruptcy, with overspends in adult social care and children’s services getting the blame.
Cllr Ridney said: “The high needs block is overspent every year before we get it because that is what it is.
“I know we have been demonised for the last couple of years but these are children. If they hadn’t got another pound left I wouldn’t give a toss – if the kids need it they get it.
“If someone can’t have a pothole fixed my heart bleeds for them.”
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