Children's centres to be brought under council control
Katy Morton
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Doncaster council is to take over the running of all of the borough's children's centres because of fears over future funding.
Doncaster’s council’s cabinet last week approved a plan for the council to manage all of the metropolitan borough’s 21 children’s centres. Currently, the council runs just six settings, with the remaining 15 managed by the charity Action for Children, school governing bodies and the NHS Foundation Trust.
The council says that a key factor in the decision to centrally manage all 21 children’s centres is the uncertainly over future funding beyond March 2013, which makes long-term planning and awarding contracts difficult.
According to Doncaster council, having all the borough’s children’s centres under the same management will enable the Integrated Family and Support Services department, which covers children’s centres, to deliver a better service to families.
Councillor Eric Tatton-Kelly, cabinet member for the children and young people’s service said, ‘We’re taking action now so that we can effectively manage children’s centres over the next few years. There are no issue with the quality of what is on offer at the centres at the moment, but we need to plan for an uncertain financial future.
‘As part of the new Integrated Family and Support Services we have the chance to review children's centres along with all the other services we provide to families, and we need to make sure we are offering the right services to the right families. We want to make sure that the services families can access through children's centres are consistent and giving best value for money, and also see whether we can reduce the running costs by managing them centrally.’
However, Julie Longworth, operational director for children’s services at Action for Children, which runs six children’s centres in the borough, said, ‘We have not yet received any formal communication from Doncaster Council relating to their recent decision on the future management of children’s centres across the borough.
‘Our main concern is for the children and families who use the seven centres we manage and for our staff who deliver these services. We will be working hard to keep them informed as this process continues.’
