Birmingham council social services are to open a dedicated centre for foster parents to help control overspend.

£60,000 will be spent converting a disused children's home, situated in Handsworth. The department overspent by £4.3 million this year and hopes that the new centre will cut down on the external help that it needs to 'buy in'.

The council claims that the centre will support the recruitment and maintenance of foster parents at half the cost of the external provision.

This cost-cutting exercise is in addition to other measures including a freeze on recruitment and cutting back on travel allowances for staff.