
The move is designed to reduce its early years spending from £29m to £7m and follows concerns from councillors that the council’s children’s centre services are being underused.
Launching a three-month consultation on the plans, Afzal Khan, the council’s executive member for children’s services, said: "We have much less money to spend and need to ensure that we target it most effectively, focusing on those who need support the most."
The citywide outreach service will be developed with local GPs, health visitors and midwives.
Latest council figures show that a third of families with children under the age of five visit the city’s children’s centres. But during a pilot in the Ardwick area of the outreach service eight out of 10 families were contacted.
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