South Lanarkshire is set to create new supported homes for care-experienced young people as part of major plans aimed at keeping young people closer to home.
Plans that were revealed to councillors on the Social Work Resources Committee on Wednesday (May 6) would see a partnership with Barnardo’s to deliver a new ‘Gap Homes’ development in Blantyre, offering supported accommodation for young people not ready for fully independent living.
The project would include four self-contained homes and a staffed support house designed to provide stable, relationship-based care in a family-style setting.
As well as this, five modular one-bedroom homes are planned within the grounds of existing children’s houses in Cambuslang, Hamilton, Carluke and East Kilbride to help young people make a gradual move towards independence while staying connected to support staff.
Councillors praised the plans for both their financial and community benefits.
Chair of the Social Work Resources Committee, Margaret Walker (Cambuslang West) said: “I think it’s a very exciting development in terms of a new and innovative model of services which focuses more on community based support and moving towards independence.”
Councillor Robert Brown (Rutherglen South) said: “I just wanted to congratulate the officers on this report because I think it’s one of the unusual things where we see both financial improvement and care service improvement at the same time. I think it’s a really excellent report. It’s been many months in the making, but the access to the Barnardo’s scheme in particular I think is a considerable coup for the department and many congratulations to them for that.”
And councillor Mary Donnelly (Hamilton West and Earnock) added: “Thank you very much for the report, and take my thanks back to the team. I think this is outstanding work and a continuation with this council to go forward with the promise is to be commended. And this report has shown that it listened to the young people. We have listened to the young people and how they want to go forward, how they want to be developed and how they want to be supported and that is to be commended to the department.”
The move is part of the council’s commitment to ‘The Promise’ which is a national drive to improve care for vulnerable children by reducing unnecessary moves and keeping them close to their communities.
The changes are also expected to slash spending on costly external residential placements, which can cost up to £6000 a week per young person. The council says its latest recovery measures could cut the £10.6 million funding gap down to around £1.3 million.
Now approved, the modular homes could open by summer 2027, while the Barnardo’s development is expected to take just over two years to complete.
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