Purpose

This report seeks the Executive
Mayor’s approval to repurpose 367 Holmesdale Road towards
in-house provision of care and for the Council to submit its bid to
the Department for Education (DfE) for Capital funding under the
Complex Needs Open Children’s Homes Capital Investment
programme. No works will be commissioned, as further approvals will
be sought either through the appropriate route once the outcome of
the Bid and Cost of works have been
confirmed.  
 
The Council has identified 367
Holmesdale Road in South Norwood as an ideal asset to convert to a
residential home for children with complex needs. The property was
previously subject to on a long lease to the Croydon Churches
Housing Association (CCHA) which came to an end in 2023. The
property had transferred, to the Council in 1980s, following the
disbandment of the Greater London Council, with the benefit of the
lease.   
 
The property consists of 5
bedrooms and separate kitchen, lounge and additional WC facilities.
The space and layout makes it ideal to convert into a home of up to
three children with complex needs, including rooms also available
for care and support staff. Progress of refurbishment works will
depend upon the outcome of the Bid to DfE.  
 
This is the second wave of
recent capital funding available from the DfE. This wave has been
launched to support capital investment opportunities to develop
provision specifically for children with complex mental health
needs and challenging behaviour. This Wave 2 funding is to ensure
that the system is able to provide a safe home for these vulnerable
children and is aimed at: 
 

ensuring there is
sufficient provision in the right places for children with complex
needs 

ensuring local health
and social care teams work together to provide care which meets all
of a child’s needs 

reducing the number
of children and young people with complex needs and behaviours
being accommodated in unregistered provision. 

 
This proposal has the potential
to save the Council up to £0.668m from an annual cost
compared to spot purchases of placements in the private sector.
However, a more prudent savings projection of £0.300m is
applied based on the analysis detailed in section 7. The cost of
private sector placements for children with complex mental health
needs and challenging behaviour can be up to £15k per week.
The fixed cost to the Council is realistically projected to be
£8.25k per week. In house provision provides a material cost
reduction against private placements.  
 

Content

For the reasons set out in the
report and its appendices, the Executive Mayor AGREED:
 
1.1        
To approve the Council submits a bid to the
Department for Education’s Complex Needs Open
Children’s Homes Capital Investment programme to seek capital
monies to deliver 367 Holmesdale in South Norwood as a home for
children with complex mental health needs and challenging
behaviour.
 
1.2        
To approve that subject to the outcome of the Bid,
the Council can repurpose 367 Holmesdale in South
Norwood to be used as a home for children with complex mental
health needs and challenging behaviour.
 
1.3        
To note that, should the Council be successful in
its Bid for Wave 2 funding, a subsequent report will be brought
back to the Executive Mayor to seek approval to enter into the
terms of the Wave 2 funding and seek formal approval to begin the
work to convert the building into a suitable home for children with
complex mental health needs and challenging behaviour. This will
include refresher of the high-level business case presented within
this report.