Essex children's homes sell-off plans

Essex County Council has announced plans to sell off its residential children's care homes to private companies or voluntary groups.

If the council cannot find a buyer the homes will be closed, resulting in possible redundancy for 128 staff.

Essex County Council said the move would save money and improve service.

But some local children's charities have expressed concern about the proposals.

Senior county councillors will consider whether to approve the proposals at a cabinet meeting at County Hall in Chelmsford on Tuesday.

If they give the go-ahead and the plans are subsequently approved by the full council, the process will take place over the next 18 months.

If there is no interest from the private or voluntary sector, the seven homes will be closed down, meaning likely redundancy for 128 care staff.

The 44 children currently living in the homes would be placed elsewhere.

The homes that would be affected provide mainstream residential care for vulnerable children in the county.

Together they cost £7.5m per year to run and some have been judged as "inadequate" by Ofsted inspectors in recent years.

Conservative Councillor Sarah Candy, cabinet member for children's services, told BBC Essex that the current system of council-run homes meant that children were not always placed in a way that fully met their particular needs.

She said: "If we were free to commission the place that each particular child needs, then we would be meeting the needs of the child on every occasion."

The leader of the opposition on Essex County Council, Liberal Democrat Tom Smith-Hughes, said: "The county council, legally and morally, has responsibility for these children.

"There are issues that need to be addressed but it must be done on the basis of what is in the best interests of the children."

Syd Bolton of the Colchester-based Children's Legal Centre, a charity that campaigns on behalf of children who feel they have been denied services, said he was concerned about the plans.

He said: "Children are not commodities to move around like pieces in a financial jigsaw.

"You can't put a price on children's welfare. The most vulnerable children's safety must be the paramount concern."

Essex County Council has already outsourced its adult residential care. It sold its last 10 adult residential care homes to Excelcare Holdings Plc in 2005.