Young people leaving care in Buckinghamshire struggle with anxiety and depression due to the lack of support provide by the authorities as they leave the system, it has been claimed.

Vulnerable teenagers set to move into independent living at the age of 18 have begged Bucks County Council (BCC) to give them “at least half a chance”, as many have negative experiences leaving care.

According to Government figures just 75 of the 170 care leavers in Buckinghamshire went into education, employment or training in 2016/17.

Speaking at a meeting of the children’s social care and learning select committee last week, a care leaver, named only as Robin, said there are often issues with personal advisors assigned to the young people.

He told the committee that some care leavers feel they are “left in limbo” as they are not told who their personal advisers are and are not given vital information to help streamline the transition into independent living.

The 20-year-old added that some feel they are not being taught essential skills to enable them to thrive on their own, such as budgeting, and as a result face “strong feelings” of anxiety and depression as they leave care.

He said: “The uncertainty of all those things becomes very, very real. Being in care, and having all that support suddenly taken away and having to go into that on your own, I can imagine is petrifying for them.

“They don’t even know where they are living sometimes. Some young people want to live in certain areas and they are not being allowed to, they have to go to different places. There are difficulties across the board.”

Robin, who remained in foster care after he turned 18, said the children in care council spoke to 30 care leavers, the majority of which had “negative” experiences when leaving care.

He called for more services to be provided to the teenagers to help set them up with education and employment opportunities when leaving the system.

He added: “I am ready now to move into independent living because I had that support from my foster carer but it has taken a lot longer, an extra two years, because I am now 20.

“The personal advisers are very busy, they have a lot to do, but we need to be supported.”

Cabinet member for children’s services at BCC, Warren Whyte, acknowledged that work needs to be done to provide more support for children in care, but insisted measures are in place to ensure young people “reach their full potential”.

A Government commissioner was appointed last month to decide the future of BCC's children's services after they were once again rated 'inadequate' by Ofsted.

He said: “Although we know we need to work to strengthen some of our support to care leavers to ensure they receive a better overall experience from us and our partners.

“We listen carefully to what our care leavers tell us about their experiences, we really value their views, wishes and feelings and take these into account.

“In addition to this, some of our care leavers are inputting directly into improving the services we provide and provide regular challenge and support through the ‘We Do Care’ Champions”.

“Our aim is for all of our care leavers to be in education, training and/or employment and we will do everything we can, both within the council and more widely with our partners across Buckinghamshire, to help improve their career prospects.”