Lewisham councillors predict cost-cutting plans for Lewisham’s early years support, which help give children and their families a good start in life, will end up costing the council more.

This follows Lewisham Council’s proposals to cut £3.7m from its children and young people’s services over the next two financial years, with the council needing to cut £30m from its budget by 2021.

This is separate from the £15.6m overspend on children’s services announced in July, with £12.6m of this for children’s social care.

Discussing the cuts at a children and young people select committee, Cllr John Paschoud said plans to save £800k from the early help service would only increase pressure on “acute” services, like fostering and residential placements.

He said: “If we have any faith at all in our provision of early health services our faith is based on the assumption that they reduce the pressures on acute services – and it’s the acute services that are costing us money.

“If there is any way that we have some control over reducing pressure on acute services it is to keep providing as many universal preventative services we can – not cut them.”

Cllr Andre Bourne commented that the proposal to cut £800k from the service  would have a “huge” impact.

He said: “I can’t see how £800k is going to have no impact on individuals, and if we can improve it why haven’t we done this in the past?”

Executive director of children and young people Sara Williams said the cuts relating to child placements were efficiency measures, with the council still performing its statutory obligations.

This includes £800k of savings through using residential placements more efficiently, £950k of savings from “proactive” management of fostering agencies, £500k of savings from the procurement of accommodation for young people living care and moving into independent living, and £400k of savings from joining with eight local authroties to find residential and independent fostering placements.

“They don’t involve us placing any individual children in placements which are less good for them or making decisions that are less child-centred. What they are about is improving our procurement, working much more smartly with the market,” she told the committee.

“The risk here is not that we take the money out and that children and families will lose out, what the risk is that we don’t deliver these changes effectively and we spend the money anyway.

“The risks are around not delivering the savings, they are not around the service,” she said.

But committee chair Cllr Luke Sorba said the committee “feel the savings are aspitational rather than realistic.”

He said the committee are unable to assess the impact of the £800k cut to early help services, and said the £250k saving through better IT systems was “optimistic.”

The committees comments will come before mayor and cabinet on November 21.

Lewisham Council will consult on the proposals between December and February next year.