Contact: Colin Hardy, 07718 146800, [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

a) That the Executive Member for Children and Families approves the proposal to close a registered residential care unit.

b) That the Executive Member for Children and Families approves the proposal to retain the staff team and the existing budget in order to develop an intensive support service and receive a further report identifying the configuration of the proposed new service.

2 Reason

2.1 These decisions support the following Hampshire County Council priorities:

"Making Hampshire safer and more secure for all" - by providing better support to young people, their families and carers and working closely with schools to enhance family stability and continuity of care and education

"Maximising well-being" - by supporting young people in accessing education, training and employment and enhancing educational ambition

2.2 The decision supports all the Aims of the Children Act (Being Healthy; Staying Safe; Enjoying and Achieving; Making a Positive Contribution; Economic well-being) by providing an intensive support service that focuses on the needs of individual young people, their families and carers to reduce the need for public care, to enhance educational ambition and to maximise the place of young people within local communities.

3 Other Options considered and rejected:

3.1 A number of options have been considered to retain the residential service or to close the unit and redeploy the staff team to alternative residential or community care services. None of the options would enable more intensive support to be provided to a greater number of young people within the available resources.

4 Conflicts of Interest declared by the decision maker or other Executive Member consulted

4.1 None.

5 Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee -

5.1 None.

Approved by: Date:

........................................

Councillor Mrs Patricia Banks

Executive Member for Children and Families