Children's homes to be opened in Aylesbury and Buckingham

Bucks County Council has agreed plans to go ahead with the development of new children's homes in Buckinghamshire in a move which they say will help keep more cared for children from the country, in the county.

Following the decision taken in April to invest £2 million for 20 new residential placements, the Council is planning four new children’s homes, two of which will be based in Aylesbury, one in Buckingham and the fourth in High Wycombe.

The Council already owns a children’s home in Aylesbury but there are not enough residential places. This means some children are placed out of Buckinghamshire and away from people and places they are familiar with.

Looking after the children in Bucks, means they can remain close to their local community, school/ college, friends and extended family, keeping the level of change in their lives to a minimum according to the council.

The council says that increasing the number of places for children to be looked after in Buckinghamshire will reduce high costs of out of county placements, reduce the distance children are placed away from their homes, improve relationships between children and their social workers, and increase the amount of time social workers have to see children rather than spend travelling.

Warren Whyte, Cabinet Member for Children's Services said, “This is great news for the Council and for our vulnerable children; keeping children in Buckinghamshire is a huge priority for us. I am pleased that the County Council has agreed this significant investment in new homes. These children have experienced enough upheaval in their lives, so the more we can do to keep them closer to people and things they know the better.”

The additional four Children’s homes will increase the capacity within Buckinghamshire’s children’s homes to 26.