Anne-Marie Carney, Children’s Commissioning Manager introduced the report of the Director of Children, Families and Education, which sought agreement in principle to invest up to £1m by way of a loan to the organisation identified in the exempt appendix to the report to develop children’s residential accommodation in Wirral.

The Committee was reminded that in March 2019 the Children Looked After Sufficiency Strategy was adopted which prioritised the increase in placement provision within Wirral. The need to do so was driven by a number of factors which the report outlined, these included:

·  Rising numbers of Children Looked After

·  Escalating costs as demand exceeded supply

·  Mixed quality of current provision

·  Inward-facing market reducing the Council’s ability to procure local placements for children

·  Lack of sufficiency within the market

·  Increase in private provision and use of growth acquisition models across the sector

The different options considered to tackle this were outlined to the Committee. It was acknowledged that doing nothing was not an option due to the unsustainability of the current market. Other options included commissioning an external provider to provide services in Council-owned property, which was discounted due to lack of appropriate accommodation and lack of interest from providers to deliver a service without the associated asset, and a further option was to enter into a joint venture with a service provider, which was also discounted due to it being a technical and time-consuming process which was not warranted given the level of investment proposed. The report detailed other options that had also been considered and discounted.

The proposal put to the Committee was to agree in principle to invest up to £1m by way of a loan on commercial terms to the organisation identified in the exempt appendix, who had set out an ambitious proposal to set up a new social enterprise that would create a new ethical, sustainable network of residential care homes that significantly improved the life chances of children living in care. The loan would be used to support the organisation to provide initial rental allocation or purchase property, enable recruitment and secure access onto the North West Flexible Purchasing Scheme.

Members welcomed the approach but queried the need to agree to the approach in principle prior to due diligence being undertaken. Officers advised that the item was before Committee for agreement in principle to ensure that members were agreeable to the approach before officers undertook further work, and to give the provider in discussion with the Council assurances that they would receive funding, should they become the chosen provider. Members further queried whether it was necessary for the recommendation in the report to tie the Council to one specific provider.

It was moved by Councillor Kate Cannon and seconded by Councillor Paul Stuart, that recommendation 1 in the report be amended to read:

‘That agreement be given in principle to invest up to £1m by way of a loan on commercial terms to enable the development of children’s homes within Wirral for children looked after.”

The motion was put and caried unanimously. It was therefore –

Resolved – That

1)  agreement be given in principle to invest up to £1m by way of a loan on commercial terms to enable the development of children’s homes within Wirral for children looked after.

2)  the Director of Children, Families and Education be requested to bring a further report to Committee after due diligence had been completed in respect of the proposals set out in the report.