Decision details

Where Our Children Live

Decision Maker: Cabinet

Decision status: Recommendations Approved

Is Key decision?: Yes

Purpose:

Lancashire has a well-regarded and high performing residential service for our most vulnerable children. However, it has been several years since this provision was last reviewed. Working across all the elements of residential provision and based on evidence and consultation this report proposes a change to the way we provide residential care.

 

Lancashire Education and Children's Services now have a strength based operating model known as Family Safeguarding. Supporting families to remain together and ensure that they receive care within the home, the benefits are that families can deal with their own issues more easily and become confident working alongside practitioners to find solutions to their needs. To support this new way of working, we must reshape our residential provision and purpose.

 

This report presents proposals to increase provision to support children to remain at home with support; to establish 2 reception units enabling better assessments of children in crisis, and to reconfigure the residential provision to enable Lancashire to care for more children and young people within the county boundary.

 

This is deemed to be a Key Decision and the provisions of Standing Order C19 have been complied with.

Decision:

The Cabinet approved the recommendation(s) as set out in the report.

Reason Key: Expenditure > £1,700,000;

Contact: Sharon Hubber, Director of Children's Social Care Email: sharon.hubber@lancashire.gov.uk.

Date of decision: 14/01/2021

Effective from: 20/01/2021