More than 90% of children with complex needs have been placed outside the borough, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Enfield Council has decided to create a new care home for children with complex needs in a bid to address its “severely limited” service.

The decision was made by the Labour-led local authority at a cabinet meeting last week.

In a report published ahead of the decision, council officers said the lack of council-owned facilities has meant that more than 90% of the children who need them have been placed outside the borough.

This lack of capacity has also led to the local authority accidentally sending two children to unregistered placements in the past five years, the report said.

“This poses significant safeguarding risks and impacts on the overall quality of care,highlighting the urgent need for more registered local provisions,” council officers wrote.

Aside from being expensive, these out-of-borough facilities lead to “disruptive care”, with a lack of continuity of care workers “affecting trust and support for young people”.

Council officers said there is an “urgent need” to address the issue, with the number of children and young people with complex needs requiring local placements in Enfield rising by 24% over the past five years – with costs increasing by 64%.

The borough currently lacks its own dedicated property for children and young people with complex needs, trauma and deprivation of liberty (DOL) orders.

DOLs are interventions to protect people who could be a danger to themselves. This safeguard can only be used if the person is to be placed in a care home or hospital.

The council has now agreed to spend £1.5milion on setting up its care home, with up to £1m of this set aside to buy a property on the open market. This will then be converted into the children’s care home.

Once complete, the property will have four bedrooms to accommodate four children, with one in a specialised “self-contained annex” for DOL placements. There will also be a therapeutic room and secure outdoor garden.

Half of the cost will be covered through a grant received from the Department for Education in February last year. The council will be borrowing to pay the remaining £725,000 bill.

The care home will need to be registered with Ofsted by the end of March 2029 in order to guarantee the government grant funding.

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