Children’s minister outlines ambitions for family hubs
Derren Hayes
Thursday, November 4, 2021
New children’s minister Will Quince has told parliamentarians that he wants family hubs to replace children’s centres in all local authorities under the government’s plans to remould family support services in England.
Speaking at a public services committee hearing into vulnerable children, Quince said it was his ambition for the family hubs model to be rolled out across all local authorities.
Quizzed by committee chair Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top on whether this ambition meant “money for children's centres and Sure Start being funnelled into family hubs”, Quince said: “That will be for local authorities to decide, but, yes, my ambition is that will be the model they move to.”
At last week’s Comprehensive Spending Review, the Chancellor announced £82m will be provided to establish family hubs in 75 local authorities over the next three years. This is in addition to the £34m already announced to set up hubs in 12 pilot areas, create a national centre to co-ordinate practice and develop approaches to digital support.
At the hearing, Quince explained that the funding is to help local authorities with the “change process” as they move to the family hubs model.
“It’s not about us investing in new buildings, it’s about designing a hubs model in their area,” he said.
“The funding we provide is all about allowing them to go through the change process and incorporating existing children’s services and other services into a one-stop shop.
“Some local authorities are starting in slightly different places in this regard, some already have a hubs model and others are operating in different ways.”
Earlier this week, Quince formerly launched the bidding process to the Family Hubs Transformation Fund, which will fund innovative approaches to establishing family hubs in 12 areas.
Quince told parliamentarians that the detail of how the £82m would be allocated was still to be decided, but that successful bids to the Transformation Fund would be “critical” in shaping the wider roll out of family hubs.
“I hope to report back in the next few weeks on criteria for the bidding process and how we are going to allocate the funding for the 75,” he said. “I can’t give a timeline for when all areas will have a family hub – we want to do it as quickly as possible but give local authorities the time and space to develop their offer.
“If you look at Sure Start it was not consistent as it was rolled out. I want to get this right and that means not rushing to do the whole country in one go.”
Unlike the original Sure Start children’s centres model that supported families with children aged from birth to five-years-old, the government wants family hubs to provide support for families with older children and include a wide range of services including help with employment and benefits.
Quince said: “I see family hubs as Sure Start+++. Sure Start had great merit in the early days. If I had criticism it is that it was focused on 0-5 but the family is much wider than that and family hubs will be for the whole family.
“When it [Sure Start] was rolled out at scale and speed it became inconsistent and patchy on the ground and I’m determined with the family hubs model as we roll it out we see what is best practice and make sure the outcomes are clear as that’s the only way I’m going to get money from the Treasury to deliver it to the rest of the country.”
Quince also announced that the Department for Education is working with Bristol, Lancashire, Salford, Suffolk and Tower Hamlets councils to identify problems in establishing a network of family hubs and how these can be overcome.
