Two properties are to be bought by Swansea Council and converted into homes for children in care, at a cost of £1.5 million. Cabinet members agreed the investment after hearing about significant challenges in the wider residential market for looked-after children.
A report explained that some independent children's care providers were pausing developments or withdrawing offers to place Welsh children because the Welsh Government wanted profit to be removed from the sector. This Welsh Government priority, said the report, was "being driven at pace".
Swansea, like all councils, has to take some children into care although many are placed with foster families. The county only has one in-house children's residential care setting, which offers emergency and short-term placements for up to three young people.
