Purpose

This report concerns the
transfer of Angel
Lodge (12 Mayfield Road, Croydon, CR2 0BE) from the Council’s
Housing Revenue Account to the General Fund for £750,000 to
enable the property to be converted for use as a Children’s
Home. 
 
The
refurbishment works are covered by Department for Education (DfE)
capital funding of £329,000 and a Service Provider is in the
process of being commissioned to run the home and deliver
registered services.
 
The cost and quality of
children’s residential care has had a lot of publicity
nationally. There is recognition that, without its own provision,
Croydon Council is at the mercy of “the market” for
children’s home provision. This has led to many children
needing to be found homes away from their home borough at great
expense. This is contributing to the pressure on the
children’s placement budget, which has been overspent as a
result.
 
Establishing a new
children’s home in the borough will reduce pressure on
budgets and contribute to the savings plan already outlined in the
Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). 
 

Content

For the reasons set out in the
report and appendices, the Executive Mayor AGREED:
 
2.1      
that the Council appropriates Angel Lodge, 12
Mayfield Road, Croydon, CR2 0BE, from the Housing revenue Account
(HRA) to the General Fund (GF). The Council
will make the necessary accounting adjustment between the two
accounts in line with proper Local Authority Accounting
Practices.