Potential plans for a new specialist secure welfare children’s home in Hampshire have taken a key step forward today, as Hampshire County Council has agreed to progress a possible new site for the home.

Following Cabinet’s approval, The Henry Cort Community College site in Fareham will now be recommended to the Department for Education (DfE) which has proposed to fund the development of the new home. It follows a separate decision in April that will see the Henry Cort site become available from September 2027, when the school’s staff and pupils will relocate to a new site in North Whiteley.

Subject to Government’s agreement and planning consent, the new home would replace the County Council’s existing site at Swanwick Lodge with a modern and larger setting providing 18 beds – almost double the 10 beds currently available at Swanwick.

One of only 13 such specialist homes in England, Swanwick Lodge currently provides a safe and secure, therapeutic environment for the most vulnerable children from Hampshire and across the country. It does not provide criminal justice placements for young people in custody but offers very specialist care and support for children who have experienced significant trauma and abuse. At almost 30 years old, and with growing complexity in the needs of the children who typically stay there, the home is now in need of replacement. Without this, the County Council is clear that in future the most vulnerable children in its care would need to move much further away from their homes and families to access suitable support, and at significantly greater cost.

Commenting on Cabinet’s decision, Councillor Nick Adams-King, Leader of the County Council, said: “Thank you to my fellow Cabinet Members for today’s valuable discussion. We all recognise the urgent need for more and better specialist residential care for our most vulnerable children and wholeheartedly welcome the Government’s proposal to fund a modern and larger new home in Hampshire.

“We have today agreed that Henry Cort could be a suitable option to accommodate the new home, and we now look forward to progressing this with the DfE. Should the DfE approve the site by the end of this year, I must stress that there would then follow a longer process including a planning consultation which would provide an opportunity for the local community to comment on the plans.”

As the proposed Government funding for the new home cannot be used for the purchase of any new land, the County Council has previously undertaken a rigorous review of potential local authority owned sites. This included a review of the existing Swanwick Lodge site; however, this is not sufficiently sized to facilitate a larger home. Earlier this year, following this site selection process, the County Council’s Cabinet rejected proposals to build the home on the site of Stubbington Study Centre, and asked council officers to see if any new sites could be found for consideration.

Since then, the County Council has concluded its separate decision-making process, begun in October last year, regarding the future of The Henry Cort Community College. With the Henry Cort site now due to be available after September 2027, the County Council has thoroughly assessed and evaluated the site as well as a range of other options put forward by local district and borough councils and third parties.

Of all the options considered, the County Council has now determined that the Henry Cort site is the only available local authority site with enough space to accommodate the new, larger children’s home. The County Council will now propose the site to the DfE and subject to their approval, will undertake further work to progress the plans including a planning application process. Should planning consent be granted, work to deliver the new home would not be expected to start on site until 2028.