Andy Munns
Wiltshire Council leaders have agreed the next steps to provide supported accommodation and residential care homes for care-experienced young people and young people seeking asylum in Wiltshire.
The council has agreed to invest more than £12m in providing homes, and now the Cabinet has agreed to undertake procurement exercises to identify providers to operate the new supported accommodation.
On 20 February, Full Council approved a capital investment of £10.560m to provide housing for 68 care-experienced and asylum-seeking young people and £1.6m to provide children’s residential homes for children with complex needs in Wiltshire. This funding will enable the council to provide accommodation and commission providers.
At its meeting on 7th May, the Cabinet agreed to undertake two procurement exercises to commission external Ofsted registered providers. Both contracts will be in place for five years, with the option to extend for a further five years.
The additional capacity in supported accommodation will enable more care-experienced young people and unaccompanied young people seeking asylum to stay within Wiltshire, close to their communities and support networks. The additional residential children’s home capacity will also meet the current and future demand to support children with complex needs.
In addition to providing a stable and supportive environment for young people, the investment in additional capacity will also save on costs, as many young people are currently being placed in various accommodation that is more costly than necessary due to market pressures.
Laura Mayes, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “This additional investment for care experienced young people, unaccompanied young people seeking asylum, and residential home accommodation for young people within these groups with complex needs means we can provide stable and supportive accommodation to meet current and future demand. This investment will improve outcomes for young people through enhanced accommodation close to communities, education, transport links and workplace opportunities. It also forms part of our preventative approach to council finances, investing money now to save on higher costs in the future from expensive private and out-of-county placements.
“This investment will empower our young people to live full, healthy and enriched lives which is a key priority in our successful business plan approach. It also follows our guiding themes which are woven throughout the approach we take to delivering services of ‘prevention and early intervention’ and ‘improving social mobility and tackling inequality’.
“Crucially, this accommodation means more young people can stay within Wiltshire, close to their communities, friends and established support networks with council services. This continuity is key to young people being successfully independent in terms of their health, wealth and emotional wellbeing.
“We are passionate about our role as corporate parents and this investment in high quality accommodation will help us to ensure care experienced young people have the springboard they need to achieve their full potential as they reach adulthood and leave their care settings.”
