Nottinghamshire campaigner asks Government for change after spate of objections against children’s care homes

Terry Galloway, who grew up in care and now campaigns for greater protections for care leavers, is looking to make it easier to convert family properties into homes for two to three children.

Larger children’s homes are thought to be out of date, detached from communities and too impersonal.

Currently authorities and care providers must first get planning permission for a certificate of lawfulness to convert a property, but these applications are often met with resistance.

In Worksop, plans to convert a five-bedroom property into a home for two children received more than 80 objections from residents, with many raising concerns over plummeting house prices and anti-social behaviour.

In response, Mr Galloway has written to housing and planning minister Rachel Mclean, calling for change.

He said: “It is crucial we address the challenges faced by local authorities in providing sufficient residential accommodation and support for our children in care, while also combating the stigma and discrimination that plagues our planning system.”

Under the Town and Country Planning Act, there are various classes buildings are put in that dictate the type of developments that are allowed within them.

If a proposed development would ultimately change the class the building is in, approval must be sought.

If it does not, it is not considered a material change and therefore no application is needed.

Mr Galloway says the existing classifications “fail to adequately reflect the evolving nature of residential establishments, particularly those serving vulnerable children” and the letter to Government proposes a solution.

He wants to implement a so-called ‘statutory instrument’, which grants permitted development rights to allow a provider to change a family dwelling to a residential establishment without requiring permission – family dwellings and residential establishments currently sit in different classes.

He argues the case of foster carers, who do not have to apply for planning approval or certificates of lawfulness, because it is accepted what they are doing is lawful.

Mr Galloway says it is commonplace for planning applications to be hit with “negative and unfounded objections based on prejudices against care-experienced people”.

A list of some of the comments from objecting residents have been provided in the letter.

It adds applications typically “whip up hysteria in the community when what is being applied for is a small home of two to three children living as one in a family-like setting with no material change”.

Mr Galloway also said many authorities that grant planning permission are district councils, which do not have control over social care and are therefore “not experts”.

Therefore, instead of leaving the decision to authorities with planning responsibilities, he says the current requirement for registration with education watchdog Ofsted should be sufficient.

He said: “People think if you remove planning permission that unscrupulous providers could create them, but that is not the case.

“This is because Ofsted still needs to approve it. They would decide whether the home is in a suitable location.”