Hampshire culls centres to create targeted hubs

Hampshire County Council is closing most of its children’s centres as it moves from offering universal services to targeted support for vulnerable families.

Only 11 of its 54 children’s centres will remain in a bid to save £8.5m a year.

A new Family Support Service will operate out of the remaining children’s centres in the county, each based in one of Hampshire’s districts in areas of ‘high deprivation’.

At their height in 2010 there were 83 children’s centres in the county, but by 2012 these were reduced to 54 through mergers as a result of changes to Government policy allowing local authorities to take a more flexible approach.

Children’s centre services currently run by voluntary providers Action for Children and 4Children will be brought in-house. Action for Children is the largest voluntary provider.

Operational director at Action for Children Liz Rowe said, ‘We know that getting children and families help early can significantly improve life chances. It is clear to see how valued children’s centres are within their community, operating as vital hubs linking families with health, social care and other services.

‘We understand the difficulties faced by local authorities when tasked with reducing costs so we will be continuing to work closely with Hampshire County Council to ensure its future model meets the needs of the children and families we support.’

Councillor Keith Mans, lead member for children’s services, said the decision had been made in light of ‘ongoing profound’ Government cuts.

The new provision will bring together the work of early help hubs, children’s centre services and youth services in a single service for vulnerable families with children from birth to 19 (25 for children with disabilities).

The Family Support Service will continue to work in partnership with midwifery, health visitor and school nurse services, as well as other health and community services.

Around 1,500 families will receive Level 2 (early help) and some Level 3 support – targeted early help for vulnerable families.

The council says that it has increased the number of health visitors in the past few years and that early help professionals and children’s centre workers are based increasingly in the community.

The health visitor workforce has increased by 95 per cent since 2012 and has a budget of £17m for 2016/17, with 238 full-time equivalent posts.

The council has not confirmed when the centres will close, but said that the ones that remain will be the most-used centres.

According to the council’s decision report, an exercise carried out by the council last summer sought to establish the number of families using children’s centres, not just for drop-in but also for activities. It found that while some buildings were well used, many had low footfall, with 19 per cent of them used by fewer than 20 families a week.

The council has said that of the 272 full-time equivalent children’s centre staff, there are up to 145 potential redundancies.

Currently 75 venues deliver children’s centre services – the council is proposing that those buildings that are closed will be made available for alternative community use or ‘declared surplus’ to the council’s requirements. It recommends that the majority of the buildings be returned or transferred to schools or considered for extra childcare places, either through expanding childcare on-site, new provision, or schools lowering their age range.

Councillor Mans said, ‘In the face of ongoing profound reductions in central Government funding, we are determined to maintain essential services, particularly services for those with high levels of need of our help, care and protection.

‘In order to do this we have to develop ways to do things differently. I have taken into account a number of factors in making my decision – the response from our public consultation on the Family Support Service proposals, the changes in the way people are increasingly accessing information, advice and support services, the additional and complementary support that is now available to families within the community, and the financial context within which the County Council is operating.

‘This decision has not been easy but I am satisfied that this new service will support those who are most vulnerable and in need of help but who do not meet the threshold for statutory social care, while ensuring that comprehensive information, advice and signposting is provided for all.’

He said the new service would be coming at a time when the number of health visitors had increased significantly and when working parents would be able to access 30 hours of free childcare.

The 11 children’s centres that are to double as the family support service hub have been selected on the basis that they are in an area of high deprivation and are the most-used centres in the district.

‘Along with the outreach work that staff carry out and the various health services in local communities, there will be a wide range of services that all families can access, being provided [in other locations] by local community groups and independent providers,’ he added.

Families will no longer be able to access activities for free unless they are in need of early help support.

Those families will be directed to other community groups; for example, parent and toddler groups or ‘Rhyme Time’. As is currently the case for early help, the Family Support Service will continue to work in partnership with midwifery, health visitor and school nurse services, as well as other health and community services.

Meanwhile, campaigners from Save our Children’s Centres (SOCC) Hampshire have vowed to launch a legal challenge to keep them open.

Organiser Catherine Ovenden wrote on Facebook this week, ‘We are still continuing the fight for Hampshire’s centres.

‘Those of us who have used the centres (parents and professionals) know their worth. We know their value. And it isn’t financial. They save and change lives. But we have a County Council who value money and buildings over lives. That’s the truth of it.’

30 HOURS: EARLY INNOVATOR

Hampshire County Council is also one of 25 local authorities chosen as an Early Innovator looking at addressing specific issues in the run-up to the 30-hour national roll-out from September 2017. These include how to make it easier for nurseries and childminders to offer places for children with disabilities and special educational needs.

The council is focusing on the following:

• Understanding the parental motivation to take up childcare for children with special educational needs and disability (SEND).
• Understanding market readiness to support 30 hours’ childcare for children with SEND including non-standard work patterns to meet employment opportunities.
• Understanding what service development change for SEND provision is required to meet anticipated demand.

During the first phase of the project, the council has surveyed parents and specialist SEND providers. Both surveys are being analysed. More than 2,300 responses were received for the parental survey, of which 4 per cent were from parents/carers with children with special education needs and disability, which is representative of general cohort numbers for this group of families.

During the autumn, the next phase of the project will be to review, with Hampshire childcare providers, the findings of the surveys and develop strategies in preparation to meet anticipated demand. The council will also undertake some further SEND parental focus groups and collaboration events to share information and findings with the local childcare market.

A cross-party group of MPs has recommended that children’s centres should be renamed and rebranded as family hubs as a one-stop shop of support to deliver the Government’s ‘life chances’ policy.