LANCASHIRE County Council has responded to a Local Government Association warning that children’s social care is close to breaking point

The organisation, which represents 370 councils, revealed that in 2015/16 they surpassed their children’s care budgets by £605million to protect those at risk.

An LCC spokesman said: “As the LGA points out, all councils with social care responsibilities face financial challenges and that situation applies here. We have invested £7m to transform delivery of children’s care, by putting the right support in place earlier, and recruiting more social workers.”

The LGA said councils have faced an unprecedented surge in demand for children’s social care support over recent years, which is showing little sign of abating.