Two redundant farmhouses in the Soham area – in close proximity to each other and both owned by Cambridgeshire County Council – are to be refurbished to become homes for children and young people with complex needs.
The council says cost savings will be substantial, but it also has the key advantage of not having to pay for the young people to be placed outside of Cambridgeshire.
Martin Purbrick, executive director for children, education and families outlined the scheme to the children and young people committee in June and the assets and procurement committee is expected to ‘sign off’ expenditure on September 17.
The homes will be managed by an external provider who will be offered a 10 year contract.
“Locally and nationally, there is a growing complexity of need, alongside a lack of local capacity for children and young people with complex needs in crisis,” says Mr Purbrick.
“Children and young people are being placed out of county, and the council is continuing with its use of unregistered settings for children in care, as there is at times limited registered options available.
“Demand is outstripping supply; consequently, the cost of placements is increasing year on year, resulting in a compromised ability to forecast our budgetary needs accurately.”
He said that as of March 2024, the council are paying an average cost of £16,596 per child per week for an unregistered placement, down from the average cost in October 2023 when it was £19,545.
“However, in some cases the cost per child per week can be significantly higher,” he said.
“The option to do nothing and to keep the service delivery the same, would offer no savings or cost avoidance.
“To externally commission the delivery of the service, could generate an annual cost avoidance upwards of £638,976.”
The committee was told that following a meeting and negotiations with the market providing higher needs provision, the council would be placing a cap on the weekly tendered rate. The new figure was likely to be between £8,000 and £12,000 per week.
Mr Purbrick said that technically it could be possible to deliver the service in-house, but this would not generate the same level of savings.
The children and young people committee agreed that “from a financial perspective a commissioned high need service is progressed, as it will offer the greatest cost certainty and the highest range for cost avoidance”.
It also felt an externally commissioned provider would have access to experienced management and senior staff, policies, and procedures, and an in depth understanding of the Ofsted registration process.
Once the assets and procurement agree, tenders will go live for the refurbishment costs and the externally commissioned service delivery.
Whilst the two houses will be refurbished by the council, they will be maintained by the externally commissioned provider, including responsibility for damages.
Mr Purbrick said: “Outside of the financial cost, the largest effect is the impact on the child.
“Placements out of county and in unregistered settings often offer little stability for children and young people, and they are unable to sustain connections with family, friends, and the local community.
“In order to respond to need and mitigate pressures in a sustainable way, change is required.”
He said the two farmhouses would provide for children and young people who present with the most complex needs.
The assets committee will hear both houses are unoccupied following farm amalgamation; they are six bedrooms and three bedrooms in size.
“Financially, for both properties to be used for the children in care residential service, rental income would still be taken from the provider for both properties, but the cost avoidance for children’s external placements created from the service would far exceed any rental income via residential use for the properties,” says a report to the committee.
Initial calculations of an “annual net cost avoidance estimated at £638,976” has been revised.
“Further work on the proposal since June has identified that this figure could be significantly higher; these revised figures will therefore be included in the 2025-26 business plan once available,” says the report.
“The 2024-25 business plan was approved by council on 13 February 2024 and included a £1.7m capital budget for this scheme.
“A further revision to the business case, reflecting this new proposal, was reviewed by capital programme board in March 2024, which revised the scheme cost down to £1m.”
The report added: “Both properties require further works to ensure they are suitable for the high support needs of the children placed, and the staff supporting them.
“The scope of the works will be to refurbish and update, also upgrading energy performance in line with the council’s net zero ambitions, and to provide a safe and secure environment for children cared for in both properties.
“The cost of the expected works for both properties are estimated to be in the region of up to £950k. The specification of work is higher than a conventional dwelling to ensure safety.”
One of the properties has an agricultural occupancy condition but a planning application is being submitted to temporarily lift the restriction for the period of up to 10 years.
The current timelines for the refurbishment work to the properties would be anticipated to be completed, subject to planning, by early spring 2025, and the externally commissioned service provider will begin running the service at the earliest opportunity after the award of the contract.
