A HUGE increase in the number of vulnerable children in Swindon has resulted in Swindon's social services department going £798,000 over budget.

To get back in the black, officers have proposed drastic cuts to care services for children and the elderly.

But councillors may choose to balance the books by making less draconian cutbacks spread over a number of years.

The predicted overspend for this year is four times the figure for last year. The department's total budget is £31.2 million.

Acting head of children and families, Tony Scragg, said the deficit is down to an unexpected increase in the number of children who need local authority care from 170 this time last year to 205 at present.

Mr Scragg said: "The increase has affected the number of children we can accommodate locally, meaning we have had to go to quite expensive out of borough placements."

He said that housing a child with a local foster carer costs about £220 a week.

Using a full-time out of borough care home can cost up to £3,000 a week.

He said: "We've spent the last six weeks trying to find out why the numbers have risen. It is part of a national trend in terms of the numbers of looked-after children."

The number of children put into local authority care because they have been abused or neglected has risen by 15 over the past year.

The rest of the increase is due to "children in need" whose parents cannot look after them for whatever reason.

Council officers have proposed wide-ranging cuts to both the housing and social budgets in an attempt to break even this year.

They include scrapping care home places for many elderly people and the temporary closure of Bath Road Children's Residential Facility.

The full-time care facility for difficult children could be closed for three months between January and March, saving £20,000.

Other savings include slashing the IT budget and reducing payments for foster carers.

Lead member for social services councillor Steve Allsopp (Parks, Lab) said the cabinet would probably find the cuts unacceptable when it meets tomorrow night.

"Short term cuts of this kind can lead to bigger financial problems in the long term," he said.

"We may be better of looking for a longer term solution."

Of the possible closure of the Bath Road unit, he said: "It provides a safe place for young children for whom we can't immediately find fostering accommodation or appropriate residential placements.

"But it is small and very expensive in terms of its unit cost.

"The manager has been on sick leave for a while and the facility has had staff and management problems.

"Closure would provide us with a bit of breathing space."

In June a government report condemned Swindon social services as one of the worst departments of its kind in the country.

Meanwhile, last week a teenager in the care of social services was jailed after stealing a police car.

The 16-year-old said he stole the car because he was bored after being housed by social services in a Travel Lodge on the M4 with nothing to do all day but watch TV.

The youth was sentenced to one year detention and training order.