Care providers chosen to house older teenagers in Peterborough to be awarded contract worth £16m

Thirteen care providers have been chosen to support 16 and 17-year-olds by Peterborough City Council (PCC).

The approved companies will provide housing and regular meetings with older teenagers leaving the care system to help them transition into adult life.

Eight of the providers will also support separated migrant children.

The value of the contract with the providers, and others that may join them in the future, is £16m over four years, PCC says.

The council’s cabinet will be asked to approve this at their meeting on 12th February.

Children’s services at PCC were recently rated inadequate by Ofsted, with the most critical part of their report focussing on its provisions for care leavers.

But works to change how commissioning supported accommodation for older teenagers in Peterborough is run predates their visit.

It follows the introduction of new government regulations that mean providers must meet certain requirements, such as registering with Ofsted for their own inspections.

In Peterborough, supported accommodation was previously provided through a shared services agreement with Cambridgeshire County Council.

PCC says that, once their new contract has come into effect, there will be ongoing consultation with young people, providers and professionals to further develop the service.

Youngsters say staff sometimes bring personal issues to work

Young people who have experienced living in supported accommodation were also consulted in the run up to the contract being drawn up.

They said that staff bringing “their personal issues to work and sharing them with young people” really affects them, PCC documents say, and that it “sometimes felt that we were trying to help them”.

They also said that CCTV cameras can feel “obtrusive” when inside the home and that “support for budgeting could be better”.

“You don’t realise how much freedom you will have in supported accommodation and it can be scary and you can be left alone a lot,” a care leaver is reported to have said.

Some staff felt “like a family”, though, they added, and would check up on them after they left and even invite them to Christmas dinner.

The newly-appointed providers will be asked to hold weekly face-to-face meetings with the teenagers in their care and ensure they have access to education, employment and training options as well as healthcare and post-18 housing.

They should also be taught practical skills, such as budgeting, DIY and cooking and emotional skills, such as dealing with loneliness, managing conflict and building self-esteem, PCC says.

Care providers ‘should take migrants over 18 to police’

Migrant children, meanwhile, will be supported to set up a credit union account and offered welcome packages and baskets including clothing and toiletries.

Those found to be 18 or over should, however, be transported to a police station where they will be collected by the UK Visas and Immigration service, PCC says.

The full list of providers currently tipped for approval are:

• Anytime Care 2020*
• Cambridge Care Company*
• CHS Group
• PCH Integration Services*
• Firbanks Supported Living
• Semi-Independent House Ltd*
• Grove Social Care
• Sixteen Plus Ltd*
• Kempshire Ltd
• We Care Nursing Services*
• YMCA Trinity Group*
• Your Absolute Care*
• Transition Care Peterborough Ltd

Those marked with asterisks will provide services for migrant children as well as 16 and 17-year olds leaving the care system.

PCC expects that the number of commissioned providers will expand after the first 13 are approved.

The new system will come into effect in April.