THURROCK councillors have questioned a rise in the number of "commercial" children's homes opening in the borough.

Thurrock Council has approved a growing number of change-of-use applications for residential properties to be turned into small-scale children's homes in recent months.

At a corporate parenting committee meeting on Thursday (13 March), Cllr Neil Speight, the chair of the authority's People Overview and Scrutiny Committe and an Stanford-le-Hope indepdnent councillor, said: "My concern with these is some of them are clearly commercial operations. We know some of this care is very expensive to provide.

"One given approval the other day is basically three carers per 24 hours per child and the cost of that care is going to be quite high.

"Nowhere in the process of planning did I see any input from our children's services department.

"Some of these homes are creating a degree of – I don't want to say antipathy or antagonism – but there's a negative vibe coming out of it, which can't be good."

Labour Cllr Cathy Sisterson, who represents Aveley and Uplands where at least two such homes have been sanctioned, questioned Elise McQueen, Thurrock Council's head of looked after children, on whether the homes were being used for Thurrock children.

Cllr Sisterson said "Are there more children's homes being opened in Thurrock, because on planning there's quite a few homes coming up that are going to be used as small scale children's homes.

"Are they for Thurrock children or other authorities?"

In response, Ms McQueen said "It depends on what our commissioning arrangements are with those facilities and if they are able to meet the needs of our children.

"It goes through extensive quality assurance.

"We have a bank of providers that we use first and foremost that were quality assured. For others set up and operating in the borough we would use them if they were good and could meet the needs of our children.

"First and foremost you should be putting children in foster homes with foster parents and really I would prefer to avoid children's homes for children because they have multiple carers as parents but if there is good provision, our children's needs are complex and we can't meet their needs with a foster carer we would look locally."

A number of children's homes have been the go ahead to open recently.

These include a conversion of a domestic property in Tilbury to a home for three looked-after children, a home for three children in Meadow Drive, Aveley, a home for three children in Argyll Road, Grays, a home for two children in Seaborough Road, Grays and a home for five children in Catherine Close, Chafford Hundred.

Other applications are in the pipeline.