Hartlepool Borough Council to borrow £1m to provide more of its own children's homes
Councillors have agreed to borrow £1million to provide more children’s homes in Hartlepool to help save money and allow young people to remain cared for in the town.
The latest meeting of Hartlepool Borough Council heard the authority continues to consider all options to “mitigate the significant increase in children’s social care costs” it faces.
Officers noted this is particularly down to the rising cost of private sector residential placements.
In recent years the council has increased the number of children’s homes it runs which have proved to be less costly in comparison to private placements in the independent sector.
Council chiefs are therefore continuing to look for properties to convert into local authority run homes “given the continued pressures, both current and forecast”.
At the last full council meeting, councillors unanimously approved borrowing £1million to set aside to purchase and renovate properties into children’s homes in the town.
Denise McGuckin, the council’s managing director, said this would allow the council to act quickly when appropriate properties arise, noting finding the right location and premise for a children’s homes can be challenging.
She stressed individual schemes would only progress subject to a business case showing the proposal “would result in a lower cost than private placements in the independent sector and that value for money was achieved”.
Mrs McGuckin added: “That enables us to move at pace, otherwise we’ll lose properties and actually we’ll end up incurring more costs.”
The meeting heard a multi-disciplined officer group has been established to lead the project to ensure any property purchased is the right one and that costs of conversion are “clear and transparent at the outset”.
Go-ahead to progress any individual scheme will be via a delegated decision by the managing director in consultation with leading councillors and finance and legal officers.
The finance and policy committee would receive updates on progress.
In December councillors unanimously backed £700,000 borrowing plans to renovate the Star Centre in Flint Walk and split it into two sites offering a specialist one-bed home and a two-bed home for children needing residential care.
Full council heard phases one and two of that project are “complete and to budget”, with phase three, which will create the two-bedroom home, set to commence.