Focusing children’s centre services on the most needy

Bury Council is redesigning its children’s centres to make sure help is focused on the most needy under-5s and their families.

Hundreds of 2-year-old youngsters may also benefit from free nursery care under the proposals, which will be considered by the council’s cabinet next Wednesday (3 September).

Councillor Gill Campbell, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “Children’s centres in Bury have been very effective in delivering both a universal and a targeted service, but have increasingly found that this has meant that children and families most in need have not always benefited from the good service they provide.

“As resources for children’s centres continue to reduce due to government funding reductions, the risk to vulnerable families gets greater. These proposals aim to put the needs of the most vulnerable first.”

Bury currently has 14 children’s centres, some of which are organised into clusters (i.e. they serve several areas) and others are stand-alone. Nine of them are operated directly by the council, and five are commissioned to be operated by a primary school.

Under these proposals, there will be five children’s centre hubs and one ‘spoke’ which will deliver targeted services to the most vulnerable families across Bury and will come under the direct control of the council. They will focus on:

1)  Improving health for the under-5s measured by higher rates of breast feeding, reduced obesity in reception and improved dental hygiene 

2)  Improving child development measured by improved school readiness and an increasing proportion of children achieving good levels of development in the  Early Years Foundation Stage 

3) Reducing the risk of mistreatment or abuse of under-5s measured by  reductions in the rate of family needs escalating to a level requiring statutory intervention

4)  Improving families’ economic prospects measured by reduced numbers of under-5s in households on benefits.

The 5 proposed hubs and 1 ‘spoke’ will be:

· Woodbank with Elton Children’s Centre, covering the reach areas of the children’s centres currently operating in Tottington, Ramsbottom, Daisyfield as well as Woodbank with Elton.

· Little Oaks Children’s Centre, covering the reach area of Moorside as well as Little Oaks.

· Coronation Road, Radcliffe, covering the reach areas of High Meadow and Stepping Stones as well as Coronation Road

· Besses, Whitefield, covering the existing reach area

· Sedgley, covering the reach areas of Toodle Hill, Butterstile as well as Sedgley.

· Redvales, a ‘spoke’ children’s centre under the management of Little Oaks.

Resources for these hubs will be allocated based upon need. Staffing will be shifted from management and administration to front-line support, with 24 additional outreach staff deployed. 

The second aim of the proposals is to provide much more nursery care for 2-year-olds. From September 2014, 40% of Bury youngsters this age will be legally entitled to a free 15-hour place for 38 weeks of the year – but estimates indicate that there is currently a shortfall of 687 places across the
borough.

The council would not directly run the 2-year-old provision, but would aim to tender individually each service to interested providers, such as schools.

Existing children’s centres which it is proposed would be converted are:

· Butterstile

· Daisyfield

· High Meadow

· Moorside

· Stepping Stones

· Ramsbottom

· Toodle Hill

Cllr Campbell added: “By focusing the work of children’s centres on five hubs and one ‘spoke’, substantial savings in co-ordination, management and administration of centres can be recycled to support more front-line delivery in the areas of most need in Bury.

“Similarly, converting seven existing children’s centres into provision for 2-year-olds means we can meet a huge demand for places which has outstripped supply over the last two years. These proposals provide an excellent opportunity for schools and other providers to provide additional places in many areas where they are most needed.”

If the proposals are agreed by the cabinet, a full 12-week consultation would take place with centre users, staff and all partners before changes were made.

The cabinet report can be read in full at: http://councildecisions.bury.gov.uk/documents/s4289/Report.pdf

ENDS

Press release issued: 28 August 2014.