Secure homes need makeover

The announcement of an additional £120 million for secure children’s homes (SCH) was one of the few positive measures for children’s services in the Chancellor’s recent Budget. The investment will fund the maintenance of the existing SCH estate and pay for the rebuilding of Atkinson SCH in Exeter and Swanwick Lodge in Southampton to add extra capacity to a system struggling to meet the needs of vulnerable children.

The Treasury announcement of the funding states that adding extra capacity “will reduce local government reliance on costly emergency provision and improve outcomes for children by providing them with more suitable placements”.

Changing needs

However, secure care experts say it is vital the funding is used to develop new provision that better reflects the changing needs of children than just adding more of what is currently provided.

Latest Department for Education data shows there are 13 homes in England, 12 of which are run by local authorities and one by a voluntary organisation. They offer a total of 230 places of which 126 are for welfare placements – where a child is deemed to be a significant risk to themselves or others – and 104 are commissioned by the Youth Custody Service for children remanded in custody by the courts (see graphics). According to Ofsted, on an average day 140 children are living in SCHs, an occupancy rate of about two-thirds. Conversely, around 50 children each day are waiting for a place in an SCH with English authorities having to make regular placements in Scottish secure units because of the shortage.

Experts say the reasons for the mismatch between the total number of SCH places and those filled is complex. The lack of in-patient mental health beds, an uneven distribution of homes across the country, and children’s increasingly complex needs are just some of the factors highlighted by Ofsted. Aging buildings is another reason for SCHs operating at reduced capacity, and it is this factor that experts hope the new investment will tackle.

“Some homes might struggle to meet the complex needs that children are currently presenting because they were not originally set up to deal with them,” explains Caroline Andow, senior lecturer in criminology at Bournemouth University.

“If there’s investment that enables new provision that is more flexible, adaptable and future proof then that’s ideal because you can cater for more children within those settings safely.”

Andow is part of a research partnership involving academics from four universities aiming to gather evidence on best practice in secure care. The partnership has already developed a blueprint of what features the SCH of the future should include, covering everything from the aesthetics of the building to the technology employed to aid safety monitoring.

“The best provision is small scale,” she says. “A lot of the homes, even if they’re bigger homes, should have smaller units within them and be able to change how spaces are used. Ideally there would be ‘high needs’ rooms or ‘step-down’ rooms for children who are ready for more independence.”

Andow hopes the new funding can be used to “pave the way” for a wider upgrade of the SCH estate, whether that is refurbishing existing homes or rebuilding from scratch on larger sites.

A 2022 report by What Works for Children’s Social Care – now Foundations – also concluded that SCHs need to improve. “The capacity of SCHs and facilities have not evolved to meet children’s increasing needs, including children with severe mental health difficulties,” it states.

Scottish secure units

The situation could deteriorate further if a proposal in Scotland’s Care Review report to put a stop to children from England being placed in Scottish secure units gets the go-ahead.

A 2022 Scottish Government consultation report states: “It is possible that new legislation will come into place that will ban or significantly reduce the number of placements that are available in Scottish secure care centres to English and Welsh local authorities. This will mean the 25+ children placed in secure care in Scotland at any one time need to be accommodated elsewhere. Given existing pressure on secure children’s homes in England and Wales, there is an urgent need to consider alternative types of local provision for this group of children that can meet their needs.”

The looming threat of further pressure being added to the SCH system highlights why policymakers have acted – and experts hope the extra capacity when it arrives will provide sufficient high-quality places to meet children’s needs now and in the future.

Further reading 

• Ofsted annual report 2022/23, December 2023 www.ofsted.gov.uk

• Children in secure children’s homes, DfE, May 2023 https://tinyurl.com/5n7rsx9u

• Secure children’s homes report, WWCSC, May 2022 www.foundations.org.uk