Cash-strapped council pins hopes on family-style children’s home

With council budgets across England under strain, some are looking for innovative ways to save money.

Behind the front door of a typical-looking house in a quiet residential street in Somerset, there’s something quite radical going on.

The property has been bought by Somerset Council and converted into a family-style home for children in care.

Three teenagers currently live there, supported round-the clock by a team of staff.

Manager Kelly Field says: “Dinner’s just similar to any other home. We all sit down together, we talk about what’s gone on in the day. There’s a little bit of fun, a little bit of laughter.

“This is a family home and everything in it is representing what a normal family home should look like.”

Somerset Council has teamed up with Homes2Inspire, part of a charity called Shaw Trust, to open a total of 10 of these homes in Somerset, with seven due to be up and running by September.

It’s a departure from what’s been the trend across the sector in the past few decades, which has seen fewer council-run residential children’s homes and more reliance on private providers – which can often mean young people are sent far away from where they live.