THE elected boss of Worcestershire's children's services insists there is "no complacency" over the county's care problems - and says spending will not spiral out of control.

Councillor Liz Eyre, cabinet member for children and young people at County Hall, says in-house experts are trying everything possible to break the "need cycle".

As your Worcester News revealed this week, the Conservative leadership wants a 1.9 per cent council tax rise in April to pump an extra £4 million into children-in-care.

It follows three years of steady increases in the number of looked-after children in Worcestershire, which has risen nearly nine per cent to 700 over the last year.

Cllr Eyre said: "This is not the first time this issue has come before us, we've seen the build up and national expansion of 'need', and that need in Worcestershire has also built up.

"But there's no complacency, we are regularly looking at this area, we provide a challenge on it and monitor the figures and budget on a weekly basis.

"We are trying to break down the need cycle and those costs, and we are not doing it alone, or partner agencies are involved too.

"We are trying to address this very complicated need cycle."

It comes amid objections from the county council's Labour group, which says the cash does not have to come from increased council tax.

The group is suggesting a search for the funds from other areas of the authority.

Councillor Peter McDonald, Labour group leader, said: "They've said 'it's £20 a year extra' but council tax went up two per cent last year too.

"So that comes to £40 extra in just two years, on average for each household in Worcestershire. It's not acceptable when wages have not gone up at the same rate."

The council is working furiously on developing ideas for saving cash, like the use of IT on-the-road to make visits more efficiently and do paperwork out of the office.

Councillor John Campion, cabinet member for transformation and commissioning, said: "Across the county we are seeing big increases in looked-after children, Worcestershire is no different to that.

"While our numbers are high, we are working hard to ensure better outcomes, but it's right that we flex our budget to reflect this need."

The budget for 2015/16 will be voted on in February after a consultation.