Anger at Council decision to close Children's Homes

Opposition councillors have responded angrily to the decision made by Cabinet Member Will Mumford to close Devon County Council’s children’s homes at Birchen Lane (Tiverton) as well as Rifford Road and Blossom Corner (both Exeter). They have ‘called in’ the decision, which means that it must be considered by the People’s Scrutiny Committee, a special meeting of which is to take place on 11th March. There was anger too about the move to bring this meeting forward from its calendared date of 3rd April without consulting all committee members.

Labour group leader Cllr Richard Westlake thought the whole process was too rushed, “There are important issues at stake here and the care of vulnerable young people must be given proper consideration”. The call-in was invoked by councillors Biederman, Connett and Dewhirst who argued that, “the decision is not in the interest of Devon’s looked after children and in breach of the Council’s duties as corporate parents”.

Consultations have been conducted by the Council with community and stakeholders, young people, and affected staff along with their Trade Unions. The outcome of these was a general acceptance of the proposals to close Birchen Lane and Rifford Road homes, despite concerns about the loss of facilities which had been improved recently at significant cost, but an overwhelming rejection of the case for closing Blossom Corner.

Arguments for retaining Blossom Corner included its excellent track record in terms of Ofsted inspections and its ‘homely’ environment, which even the Council considered made it well suited for providing smaller scale care. The consultation proposal itself had recognised that, “Blossom Corner is a well run provision with a highly committed staff group who have a strong focus on achieving the best possible outcomes for young people”.

No mention was made in the consultation report that Professor Ray Jones, Chair of the Devon Children’s Safeguarding Improvement Board, and David Taylor, Chair of the Devon Safeguarding Children Board, told a meeting of the People’s Scrutiny Committee’s Safeguarding Children Task Group on 10th January that they favoured the retention of the Council’s in-house children’s homes and that they even argued for an increase in their number.

Cllr Andy Hannan says, “In terms of cost the difference between Blossom Corner and an equivalent independent sector home in providing for these children who have complex needs and who often present with difficult behaviour is not great, but the loss of an in-house highly skilled and experienced professional team is a price too high to pay. The Council needs to rethink this decision in the interests of some of the most vulnerable children in its care”.