DfE charges 'inadequate' council over children's centre cuts
Gabriella Jozwiak
Monday, June 5, 2017
A council where children's services are currently rated "inadequate" has become the latest to be charged by the Department for Education following cuts to children's centres provision, it has emerged.
Figures obtained by CYP Now following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request show that the government has penalised Sandwell Council under a contractual "clawback" system to the tune of £88,009.
As part of Sure Start funding arrangements, local authorities are required to notify the DfE of proposals to "dispose of or change the use of buildings or assets funded wholly or partly through Sure Start capital grants", and must provide details of the level of early years services that will continue.
The DfE then decides whether the council is continuing to provide a sufficient level of early years services to meet the original aims of the grant. If it decides they are not, it is able to reclaim capital funding.
In 2015, Sandwell announced it was cutting opening hours at eight out of 20 sites across the borough in order to make savings of £2.5m in 2015/16 and 2016/17.
News of the penalty charge come as efforts to improve services at the local authority continue. Children's minister Edward Timpson announced in October 2016 that an independent trust must be established to run children's services in Sandwell. The decision followed three "inadequate" judgments by Ofsted between 2013 and 2015.
CYP Now has previously reported that a total of £125,000 had been clawed back from Leicestershire County Council, Wiltshire County Council and Northamptonshire County Council between 2013 and 2015.
The latest FOI reveals that no money was clawed back in 2016, but £99,500 has been claimed back from Northamptonshire this year. This is on top of £88,642 that was claimed back from the authority in 2015.
The total claimed back in 2017 so far - from Northamptonshire and Sandwell, comes to £187,509.
In May 2016, Northamptonshire approved a decision to close eight of its 50 children's centres. This followed a decision in February of the same year to cut the children's centre budget for targeted services by £3m in 2016/17.
In 2014, the council also transferred universal children's activities such as drop-in space and timetabled activities to local libraries and community venues.
Across England, more than 1,100 children's centres have either closed or been downgraded since 2010.
Ahead of this week's general election, the Labour party has pledged to set aside £500m to protect children's centres from further cuts if it wins power.
Jim Leivers, interim director of children's services at Sandwell Council, said: "Earlier this year, Sandwell Council, undertook a major re-tendering exercise for its Children's Centres provision. ??
"As part of this process it was decided that one of the buildings was no longer fit for purpose and that the service would be provided elsewhere.
"There was no reduction in the level of children centre provision. ??Under the original terms of the Sure Start grant, local authorities are required to repay a proportion of the grant should the provision no longer be used.
"In this case Sandwell Council have re-provided services by using facilities elsewhere within the borough and have been required to repay a proportion of the original grant."
A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said: "We are aware of the clawback system as part of the historical Sure Start capital funding arrangements and have made repayments when required to do so.
"A review of targeted help through our children's centres has taken place. Final details of what the delivery model will look like is now being established and we will be mindful of any clawback arrangements when making a decision on service reconfiguration."
