Swansea Council is pressing ahead with plans to create more council-run children's homes as the cost of private placements reaches a reported average of £6,200 per week. The authority currently has two registered children's homes, with a further four in use but not yet fully registered.
These existing homes provide various specialist support and accommodate small numbers of children. Four more homes are in the pipeline, and council officer Chris Griffiths told a scrutiny panel that 2027 would be "an important construction year" for them. He said the best hope was that they could be open and registered by summer 2028.
Eliminating private profit
The Welsh Government has legislated to eliminate private profit from the care of looked-after children, meaning councils and not-for-profit organisations are expected to take on more of this responsibility. Alongside construction costs, councils must ensure they have enough qualified staff to manage and work in the new homes.
Mr Griffiths, principal officer for commissioning and residential services, said transferring external placements to in-house ones in Swansea did not mean the council would save millions of pounds. He said: "We can gain greater control of cost and quality and matching [children to the right home] and outcomes." He added that it also meant Swansea children could remain close to their normal networks.
Cost analysis and registration
Cllr Sandra Joy asked whether a costing exercise had compared the price of an externally-placed child's placement with the same placement in-house. Mr Griffiths did not give figures but said the savings were not expected to be significant, adding that the council had carried out a "comprehensive analysis" on the subject.
He also said council settings not registered with Care Inspectorate Wales carried risk and were not a long-term solution, although they did allow more children to remain in the county.
Council backing for the agenda
Cllr Alyson Antony, cabinet member for children, young people and families, said an external firm was providing the council with technical expertise to help deliver the four additional homes. She said the council fully supported the eliminate-profit agenda. "We want our children to live in Swansea and live in a home that's not just a building," she said.
Cllr Mike Day said it would be useful for councillors to be briefed when properties were being considered for purchase by the authority for use as a children's home. Local ward members, he said, could "often head off comments or rumours" about the nature of who was going to be placed there.
