Birmingham to axe 37 children's centres in bid to save £16m a year

The local authority first announced plans to make changes to early years provision in June. Following a public consultation over the summer Birmingham City Council has announced that 21 of its 61 children's centres will close.

A further 16 will be de-registered as children's centres but remain open, offering a reduced service to families - meaning the total number of official children's centres will fall to 24.

The plans will see early years services reorganised with health visiting, children's centres, pregnancy, parenting support and breastfeeding services combined and run by a partnership including Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHFT) and Barnardo's.

Under the new arrangement each district will have a minimum of one "hub" site offering a full range of services, with support for families also delivered at a range of community and health locations.

In total there will be 22 "hubs", supplemented by 107 community venues, including church halls and leisure centres, and 52 baby clinics at health sites.

Birmingham City Council has described the new system as "fairer and easier to access" for families as it brings together health visiting and children's centre provision under one service and makes greater use of community locations that are nearer to families.

"We were faced with huge budget cuts from central government that meant we had to make big changes to the service," Brigid Jones, Birmingham's lead member for children, families and schools, said.

"Coupled with this was the need to address underperformance and inconsistency of our service; not enough children reach a good level of development by the time they start school and some of our most vulnerable children do not access services, or don't get good enough support from them.

"We've chosen to make the best of the budget we've got left by focusing on what the public told us matters most, which is staff and services rather than bricks and mortar. The result of this is our new community based model, with an increased range of access points going into areas we haven't reached before.

"I know this is one of our most valued services and we have listened throughout the public consultation and made changes as a result.

"I have always been absolutely clear about the biggest reason we're changing and integrating our services: to improve outcomes for children and families. I just wish that the government had left us with the money to operate the service on the scale our families need."

Birmingham Council has said it needs to save £16.1m per year on its early years budget. The plans are expected to be approved by the council's cabinet next Tuesday.

The contract with BCHFT and its partners is for five years, with the option to extend for a further two.

Gareth Howells, BCHFT nursing and therapies director said: "This is a large project, with an increased number of locations at which families can access support, which we are confident will deliver very significant benefits for families and communities across the city.

"Throughout the process we have listened to what families need and want. That is what has shaped our approach as we work through the challenges in partnership to get the service absolutely right."