Newham Council will invest £2m in the sites to provide “bespoke high quality residential care” to children with “the highest needs”, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter

Two new children’s care homes will cost Newham Council £2million to open but save millions in the long-run, approved plans claim.

Senior council managers last week signed off on plans to open one home in the Plaistow West and Canning Town East ward, and another in Green Street West.

Plans say the homes will provide “bespoke high quality residential care” to children with “the highest needs”.

The council plans to open one home for four children in a single-storey building in Plaistow West and Canning Town East that was previously supported accommodation for 16 and 17-year-olds.

It plans to open the other, also for four children, in a former day centre for older people in Green Street West. The homes will also have bedrooms for staff who will always be on site.

Proposals say the homes will help offer more stable care to children who may have previously moved between private placements several times.

The plans say: “The council currently has 34 children placed in residential children’s homes.

“Our children in these homes have the highest needs, mental health issues, suicidal ideation and self-harming. In addition, some of the children are or at risk of being exploited, either sexually, criminally or in some incidences both.”

The plans say that because of their trauma, some of the children can “present behaviours that challenge”.

They say these children are most likely to have had the highest number of moves between different homes.

This can mean “significant disruption to their support network and established relationships” as well as a “significant increase in placement costs” to the council.

Proposals add: “The high cost does not necessarily represent quality or the ability of these homes to meet the needs of our children and young people.”

The council hopes that opening its own homes will help it provide better care to the children while also bringing down costs.

Like many local authorities, the council is struggling to pay for rocketing demand for social services and the spiralling costs of providing them.

It doesn’t currently own its children’s care homes, meaning the town hall relies on expensive private placements. The council spent £15.4million on children’s care placements last financial year, and £14.6m the year before that.

The council says the two homes will provide beds for up to eight children at a time so that they won’t be placed in private homes.

It adds: “Children will stay for short- and medium-term periods as the homes will not be a ‘forever’ home for any of the children.

“The ambition is to deliver quality care that is local and can better reflect the needs of our children and young people and support them to achieve long-term positive outcomes.”

The council already owns both of the buildings, but needs to refurbish them.

It says it will spend just over £2m on this out of its capital budget, which is used to pay for property and infrastructure, and is separate to its budget for day-to-day spending.

A £1.68m grant from the government’s Department for Education will also contribute towards the costs.

Leading councillors approved the spending at a cabinet committee meeting in June. Senior council leaders took the decision to procure and award contracts to carry out the work on Tuesday, 22nd September.

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