Wiltshire Council agrees next steps to invest more than £12 million to support young people

Wiltshire Council leaders have agreed the next steps to provide supported accommodation and residential care homes for young people with care experience and young people seeking asylum in Wiltshire.

The council agreed to invest more than £12 million in housing provision and now the Cabinet has agreed to undertake procurement exercises to identify providers to operate the new supported homes.

On 20 February, the Full Council approved a capital investment of £10.560m to provide homes for 68 young people with care experience and asylum seekers 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 providers and commissions.

At its meeting on 7 May, Cabinet agreed to undertake two procurement exercises to commission external Ofsted registered providers. Both contracts will be in effect for five years, with the option to extend for another five years.

Additional supported accommodation capacity will enable more young people with care experience and unaccompanied young people seeking asylum to remain in Wiltshire, close to their communities and support networks. The additional capacity of the children’s residential home will also meet the current and future demand to support children with complex needs.

As well as providing a stable and supportive environment for young people, investing in additional capacity will also save costs, as many young people are currently placed in various accommodation that is more expensive than necessary due to market pressures.

Laura Mayes, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “This additional investment in care-experienced young people, unaccompanied young people seeking asylum and residential accommodation for young people from 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 by improving housing close to communities, education, transport links and workplace opportunities. It is also part of our proactive approach to council finances, investing money now to save 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 approach to the business plan. It also follows our guiding themes which are woven throughout the approach we take to delivering ‘prevention and early intervention’ and ‘improving social mobility and tackling inequality’ services.

“Crucially, this accommodation means more young people can stay in Wiltshire, close to their communities, friends and support networks established with council services. This continuity is key for young people to be successfully independent in terms of their health, wealth and emotional well-being.

“We are passionate about our role as corporate parents and this investment in high-quality accommodation will help us ensure that young people with care experience have the springboard they need to reach their full potential as they reach adulthood and leaving the care setting.”