Annual spend per child in care, by local authority, 2015/16–2023/24 (2025/26 prices, adjusted for varying area costs)

A line chart from the Institute for Government showing annual spend per child in care, by local authority, 2015/16–2023/24 (2025/26 prices, adjusted for varying area costs), where average spending in England has risen from £73,339 to £97,689, with variation at a local authority level growing over time. In 2023/24, the 90th percentile exceeded £120,000 and the 10th percentile was below £80,000.

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Source: Institute for Government analysis of DfE, ‘LA and school expenditure’, 2015/16–2023/24; DfE, 'Children looked after in England including adoptions', 2015/16–2023/24; and MHCLG, '2024 Children’s Services Area Cost Adjustment values'.Notes: The City of London, Isles of Scilly and Rutland are excluded from calculations of the percentiles. See Methodology for details of area cost adjustment.Get the dataEmbed Download image

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