New role for Mansfield children's home to replace closed site

Children with learning disabilities were moved out of Minster View Children’s Home in Southwell November 2020 due to an ‘emerging picture of lacking best practice’ at the home.

In December 2021, it was agreed the facility would close for good due to its ‘institutional feel’.

Now West View Children’s Home, Chesterfield Road, Pleasley, has been earmarked as suitable for replacing Minster View as a four-bedroom home, by April.

Nottinghamshire Council has confirmed there will be no redundancies as part of the permanent closure of Minster View, as many staff who worked at there had already temporarily taken up roles within the department.

On Monday, January 17, members of the council’s children and young people’s committee will be asked to approve the disestablishment of a number of jobs from Minster View.

If approved, five managers, 21 residential social care workers, six residential care workers, cooks, domestic assistants, and a laundry assistant will be ‘disestablished’ from April 30.

Council papers state the closure of Minster View and the disestablishment of the roles leave £1,685,000 a year for reinvestment.

The funds will be used in part to purchase four more two-bed children’s homes – one of which will be at Hagg Farm Cottage, near Ilkeston.

A committee will also be asked to approve 44 new roles for West View and two new two-bedroom children’s homes in the county.

The current provision at West View will then be replaced with two smaller homes for children with histories of experiencing trauma.

West View will then be used to ‘mirror that of Minster View, taking children with learning disability, autistic spectrum disorder and additional complex behaviour’.

Any vacant posts not filled by former Minster View staff will be recruited externally.

Funding

About £1.4 million will also go towards staffing and running costs for the two new two-bedroom children’s homes – one has been purchased and a second has been ‘identified’.

Both homes are expected to be run by not-for profit company Homes2Inspire.

Coun Tracey Taylor, committee chairman, said: “The closure of Minster View will allow us to look at reinvesting those savings into delivering a residential estate which will provide suitable accommodation to house children and young people, some of whom have complex needs and require the best possible care.

“What we want is our children to feel at home where they live and having a portfolio of two-bedroom homes, which are fit for purpose, will help us to achieve that vision.”

Plans for Nottinghamshire children’s homes

West View, Pleasley: The four-bedroom home mirrors that of the former Minster View home, taking children with learning disability, autistic spectrum disorder and additional complex behaviours;

New home one: Purchased and will be run by Homes2Inspire. It will ‘open imminently’;

New home two: Property identified and under offer. Upon opening this home will be run by Homes2Inspire;

New homes three and four: Two smaller homes proposed to replace the current statement of purpose of West View;

New home five: Proposed to be Hagg Farm Cottage, near Ilkeston;

New home six: Location and operating model to be decided.

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