A decision is set to be taken on whether £1.1million should be spent to set up and run a children’s home for youngsters with learning disabilities.

Medway Council is to discuss investing the sum in refurbishing Aut Even, a former short-breaks home for children with complex needs in Twydall.

The local authority wants to make it a specialist five-bed children’s home for young people with learning disabilities, autism and neurodiversity.

A decision will be made at the council’s cabinet meeting tonight (July 30) on whether to progress with plans which hope to increase the number of beds available for children with complex needs and generate self-sufficiency so the authority isn’t having to rely on outside contractors.

The plans come as the second part of Medway Council’s move to increase the availability of residential provisions within the Towns, which has also seen Eden House in Upnor brought in-house as a children’s home for young people with emotional behavioural difficulties (EBD).

If approved, the redevelopment would be funded by a £900,000 grant from the department for education (DfE) - one of only five councils nationally to receive money.

The grant is conditional on Medway Council agreeing to join the Regional Care Co-Operative (RCCO), a project which aims to get local authorities to work together on the commissioning and procurement of placements for looked-after children.

The cabinet will decide whether to join the collaboration at the same meeting on July 30.

The authority has also contributed £200,000 from its Children’s Assessment Unit scheme towards structural improvements to a cabin at Eden House which would expand the services available there further.

Aut Even, at 46 Patrixbourne Avenue, sits partially derelict after it was agreed by the authority to move the short-stay service to the Parklands Resource Centre in Gillingham in 2017 as it had better, purpose-built facilities.

In 2021 the council considered refurbishing the Aut Even building but a report said the cost would be too significant and the residential location might not be ideal as residents might be resistant to children with complex needs being placed in the area.

However, it now says it believes, because the home would be for children with learning disabilities and autism rather than EBD, there is minimal risk of problems for locals or children living at the site.

The authority added that the projects are being supported and overseen by professionals with significant experience in the residential and social care sectors and have received guidance and support from the CHA (National Children’s Home Association) and, going ahead the site will be regulated by Ofsted, to ensure the effectiveness of the provisions.

They added it is vital that Medway’s most vulnerable and complex young people have a specialist provision locally so they can access local services and schools and also maintain relationships with friends and families.

The proposals will go before the cabinet and, if approved, work for the refurbishment will need to begin before March next year in order to retain the grant funding for the project.

Councillors will also make a decision about whether to join the RCCO at the same meeting - without which they will not be able to gain the funding for the Aut Even redevelopment.