Plans for new Jarrow children's home approved

The home will have four bedrooms for children and two for staff

Plans for a new children's home in Jarrow have been approved.

The building on the corner of Grant and Hill Streets would have four bedrooms for children and two for live-in staff, South Tyneside Council said.

The authority has also submitted plans for a similar home in Hebburn, while a new assessment centre was previously approved in South Shields.

Children's cabinet member Adam Ellison said the sites would mean children in care could stay closer to home.

It would have a multi-purpose garden

He previously said young people from South Tyneside were having to travel as far as Scotland or Lancashire for a bed "because of a lack of places nationally", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Ellison said: "We want all our children and young people to have the best start in life.

"For those children who can't be with their birth family, it is important their lives remain as stable as possible.

"We are keen to help our young people to stay in the borough, in their same schools, and close to family and friends".

The new home in Jarrow would have a multi-purpose garden, parking and solar panels on the the roof, the council said.

Council bosses previously said there was only one residential children's home in the borough and that limited provision, combined with a shortage of foster carers, meant children were often placed outside the borough away from family and friends.