Work starting on new children’s placement and assessment hub

Work is soon to start on the development of a new children’s placement and assessment hub in Bridgend county borough.

The facility which is being jointly funded by Bridgend County Borough Council and Welsh Government, through the Integrated Care Fund (ICF) capital programme, will bring together a range of services for children and young people. It is being built on the site of a former primary school at in Brynmenyn.

The hub will be the base for the local authority’s fostering and placement teams in addition to accommodation and support for children and young people aged 8-17 years.

Part of the council’s Improving Outcomes for People Programme, the new development will provide accommodation, care and support services for children and young people.  The new centre will ensure that the council and its partners can continue to safeguard and support children and young people as effectively as possible.

With an estimated construction cost of around £2m, the former school building will be demolished to make way for the hub. It has been vacant since 2018 when the entire school moved into state-of-the-art new premises.

This purpose-built children’s hub will help to maximise the health, safety and wellbeing of our care-experienced children and young people, providing a state-of-the-art environment for them, and the staff who take care of them while the most suitable long-term care plans are developed.

The hub is modelled on the Children’s Commissioner’s 'no wrong door' approach which we are highly committed to in Bridgend, in responding to children and young people's needs. This integrated approach is all about having a dedicated, highly trained team of key workers who stay with the young person throughout their journey, be it to prevent them requiring direct care, in care, or to be supported to move on to a longer term arrangement.

With the development of an existing site, the subsequent sale of an older building which is no longer fit-for-purpose and less reliance on independent out-of-county placements for vulnerable children, the establishment of a new local facility is also going to deliver reduced expenditure for the service. During the construction period, we will be working to ensure there is minimal disruption to passing traffic. With no road closures planned, we are not anticipating any major impact on the local area.

Bridgend County Borough Council’s cabinet member for social services and early help Nicole Burnett

WRW Construction is due to start work on the new children’s placement and assessment hub in July with it set to open in a year’s time.