Rotherham council considering closing two children's homes as part of 'improvement strategy'

Rotherham Council currently has three children’s homes – Silverwood, providing long term care for youngsters with emotional and behavioural difficulties, Cherry Tree House and Liberty House – which both provide long term care and short breaks for children with disabilities.

The council recently reviewed its children’s homes to assess whether they are fit for purpose.

A spokesman for Rotherham council said: "The review makes it clear that both Silverwood and Cherry Tree House, although not deemed unsafe, do not provide the best possible homes for young people and that the council should now look to close them.

"Rotherham Council is on a significant improvement journey which has already seen major changes across many children’s services."

Council Leader Cllr Chris Read said: “Our aspiration is to be a child–centred borough and what that means is that we put children at the heart of everything we do. This includes making sure as corporate parents that we place the children in our care in the best possible locations for them to be able to thrive and grow both as children and then onwards towards adulthood.

“In the case of Silverwood and Cherry Tree there is evidence of progress, including in terms of Ofsted ratings, but as far as we are concerned this has not moved far enough, fast enough,” added Cllr Read. “We needed a rapid rate of improvement and this simply has not happened despite everything we have tried to do to help.”