Council set to close more than half of children's centres
Joe Lepper
Thursday, October 4, 2018
A council has announced plans to the number of children's centres it runs from 35 to 14, as part of efforts to save money.
Buckinghamshire County Council said it is not possible to continue meeting the needs of local families and children through its current network of 35 children's centres due to budget cuts.
The council has put forward three proposals to save money, including its preferred option of running just 14 centres, which would become family centres for children aged 0 to 19 years old.
These family centres would provide parenting and healthy eating sessions as well as two open sessions a week with families. Three of the centres would have "family centre plus" status and provide open, drop-in sessions five days a week.
All 14 centres would provide access to family support services for those with more complex issues and involve health visitor-run clinics.
"The family centres will continue to provide partner services and will have a skills mix to ensure families get the right support at the right time," states a consultation document on the proposals.
"Families are supported by a lead practitioner who will work with the family, often in the home and co-ordinate the support families need to create a team around the family to help them tackle the issues they face."
An evaluation by the council found this was the best option because it would offer support for all families as well as targeted help to those with more challenging needs.
A second proposal the council is consulting local people on is to keep all 35 children's centres open but with a 30 to 35 per cent reduction in opening hours and services, including youth provision, family information and support for vulnerable children and families.
A third option involves scrapping all council-run children's centres and replacing them with a targeted family outreach service, working only with families with complex needs. These would be based in three local areas but would not offer open-access support.
Support through this proposal would take place in a family's home, at school and other community venues such as community centres and libraries.
Earlier this month a report by early years research company Ceeda blamed children's centre closures for a significant fall in the number of children in deprived areas having access to childcare places.
Last month a survey by the County Council Network found that all 36 county councils and county unitary authorities it represents are planning cuts, with children's services, early years and youth services among areas that will see reductions.
Also last month, Association of Directors of Children's Services president Stuart Gallimore warned that early help services for families are likely to be cut across all local authorities.
