MIDDLESBROUGH COUNCIL

EXECUTIVE REPORT

Restructure of Children’s Centre Services - CONSULTATION

Councillor Mike Carr, Executive Member for Children Families and Learning

Gill Rollings, Executive Director of Children, Families & Learning

8 November 2011

PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

  1. To seek approval to begin a period of public consultation over proposals for the restructure of Sure Start Children’s Centre services in Middlesbrough and to develop a model for future service delivery.
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
  1. The Executive is recommended to:
  • Note the requirement for a review of the Sure Start service delivery model, in line with latest statutory guidance and in consultation with staff, partners, key stakeholders and parents, with a view to refocusing services on those in most need.
  • Agree to a two stage period of statutory consultation on the change of use of Children’s Centres and future service delivery model, incorporating the outcomes of the recent community buildings review and consultation process.
  • Agree to the preparation of a future service delivery proposal from 2012 going forward, based upon the proposed changes and consultation feedback with priorities for delivery, service offer, staff structure and roles.

IF THIS IS A KEY DECISION WHICH KEY DECISION TEST APPLIES?

It is over the financial threshold (£150,000) / 
It has a significant impact on 2 or more wards / 
Non Key

DECISION IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE

  1. For the purposes of the scrutiny call in procedure this report is

Non-urgent / 
Urgent report

BACKGROUND AND EXTERNAL CONSULTATION

  1. In 2006, government policy aimed to build universal early years services for all families through Children’s Centres and introduced their development through a programme of capital investment and the integration of existing Sure Start and Neighbourhood Nursery provision.
  1. In Middlesbrough, a locality based hub and satellite model evolved. Over the period to 2011, the Council established 13 designated Children’s Centres, delivered through a capital build programme which produced six new purpose built Children’s Centres across nine venues, four of which are on school sites. Twenty venues were extended and or refurbished, providing a further seven designated centres, eight of which are located on school sites.
  1. Children’s Centres were designated on the basis of providing a prescribed offer of core services. A mixture of Council led and voluntary and private organisations provide these services. The core offer includes:
  • Childcare for young children;
  • Social and health services relating to young children and parents;
  • Employment support for parents
  • Information, advice and assistance on childcare and other services.
  1. A review of Children’s Centres in Middlesbrough was initiated in June 2011 following indications from the Department for Education (DfE) that the service offer could be determined locally. Subsequently, this review was delayed so as to align with other Council reviews related to savings proposals including the review of community buildings, administrative functions and efficiency targets.
  1. On 5 October 2012, a meeting of the full Council considered a programme of proposed cuts to buildings and services. The underlying commitment is to change how the Council delivers services in community-based settings with a view to contributing savings of approximately £1.5 million to the target of £13.8 million for the 2012/13 financial year.
  1. The proposals included significant reductions in the Children’s Centre sites that would be used in the future and, by implication, changes to the way in which services would be delivered from and through these Children’s Centres. It has been proposed to withdraw from four Children’s Centres and 12 individual sites.
  1. A six-week period of consultation on the overall budget proposals commenced on the 12 October, seeking views from the community and stakeholders.
  1. Broad proposals for the discontinuance of community services from Children’s Centre sites were included in this consultation. The other, more detailed consultation is needed to meet statutory requirements in relation to Children’s Centres.
The Basis for Service Review
  1. The aim of the proposals is to reduce and consolidate the services on offer whilst ensuring the Council meets its statutory duty to improve the well-being of children and ensure that early childhood services are provided in an integrated way in order to improve access and maximise the benefits to young children and their parents.
  1. The Department for Education guidance (Families in the Foundation Years strategy and core purpose for Children’s Centres) states that a network of Sure Start Children’s Centres must be retained, open to all families but focused on those in greatest need, as part of a network of family services. The main principle of the Middlesbrough review has therefore been to refocus service provision to meet the needs of the most vulnerable children and their families.
  1. Further guidance is anticipated from the DfE this autumn, incorporating but moving beyond the ‘core offer’, to a core purpose of ‘Improving outcomes for young children and their families, with a particular focus on the most disadvantaged families, in order to reduce inequalities in child development and school readiness’. This will be supported by improving parenting aspirations, self-esteem and parenting skills, child and family health and life chances. A statement of intent by DFE identifies full-filling this purpose by:
  • Assessing need across the local community;
  • Providing access to universal early years services in the local area including high quality and affordable early years education and childcare;
  • Providing targeted evidence based early interventions for families in greatest need, in the context of integrated services;
  • Acting as a hub for the local community, building social capital and cohesion;
  • Sharing expertise with other early years settings to improve quality.
  1. Local authorities have a duty to establish Children’s Centres and to secure sufficient Children’s Centres to meet local need. The guidance suggests that each Children’s Centre should be expected to serve up to 1,200 children under the age of five.
  1. The integration of services within a Children’s Centre delivery model should also incorporate wider safeguarding responsibilities as part of an early intervention approach. Linked and complementary service areas which full-fill Local Authority statutory responsibilities under the Childcare Act 2006 are:
  • early years education provision for 2-3 year olds;
  • childcare sufficiency strategy;
  • early years education inclusion support;
  • parenting support;
  • family information service;
  • community based play provision;
  • quality in childcare workforce development and Parent Intervention Project.

Statutory Framework and Consultation

  1. The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning (ASCL) Act 2009 inserted provisions into the Childcare Act 2006 to define the status of Children’s Centres in law. The definition does not ascribe Children’s Centres as being located at a particular site, but rather defines them as a collection of services that can be operated from one or more sites. Middlesbrough has 13 such Children’s Centres operating across 29 sites for which they have responsibility and 32 venues in total.
  1. Local communities must be engaged to ensure that the services on offer are meeting local need. To this end, each designated Children’s Centre is overseen and supported by an advisory board (management committee) of stakeholders, partners and parents. Ultimate governance role, but governance and accountability remain with the Local Authority, however.
  1. Local Authorities are under a duty to consult with service users and other stakeholders when considering making any significant changes to Children’s Centres. The Childcare Act requires that local authorities consult when the following actions are proposed for a Children’s Centre:
  • Making any significant change in the services delivered, including the location at which services are delivered and the addition or removal of services;
  • Doing anything which would result in a Children’s Centre ceasing to be a Children’s Centre, i.e. closure or reduction in services;
  • Making arrangements for the provision of a Children’s Centre.
  1. The DfE do not prescribe how local authorities must undertake such consultation or for how long. The particular arrangements are therefore left for Middlesbrough Council to determine within a framework laid out in the DfE’s statutory guidance. The Council is guided to provide sufficient information and allow adequate time for all stakeholders who may wish to respond to come to a considered view over the proposals. It is not expected that local authorities should need to consult for longer than 12 weeks. Local authorities are also given flexibility to tailor their consultation process to the scale of the potential change. It should, however, be made clear how the views of stakeholders can be made known.
  1. As a result of the Middlesbrough proposals, it is anticipated that all Centres will be affected by the proposed changes to differing degrees, either through: direct withdrawal from use of a Children’s Centre site, relocating services, redefining boundaries of remaining centres, remodelling the service offer. All Children’s Centres in Middlesbrough should be consulted to differing extents, alongside service users and other stakeholders.
Presumption against Closure of Children’s Centres
  1. In considering closure of a Children’s Centre, Middlesbrough Council must have regard to its duty to preserve access the Children’s Centres for all families and secure sufficient Children’s Centres to meet demand. The DfE therefore asserts a presumption against the closure of Children’s Centres. The Council must therefore demonstrate a sound business case for the proposed withdrawal of four Children’s Centres, and must be able to demonstrate:
  • How access has been preserved for all families and local need is to be met;
  • How the LA will continue to meet its duty under the Children Act 2006 and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009;
  • Whether there are alternatives e.g. federation to deliver the Children’s Centre
  • The overall and long term impact;
  • Any adverse affect on disadvantaged groups;
  • Future accessibility of services;
  • Impact on the local childcare market.
  1. There is a requirement to consult over clearly laid out proposals for change and be able to clearly demonstrate the impact that these changes will have on service users so that stakeholders can come to a considered view. The consultation can also be used to engage stakeholder over the way in which services could be delivered in the future.
Proposed Consultation Process
  1. It is proposed that the required consultation be undertaken in two distinct phases. The wider Council proposals in terms of community buildings and the associated Children’s Centre proposals have already been subject to the recent budget consultation exercise. It is proposed that the next stage of consultation in relation to Children’s Centres will focus on seeking views on shaping a new service offer in line with anticipated Government guidance and within the retained Centres as proposed.
  1. The first phase of consultation will be used to engage advisory boards, service providers and other stakeholders. An initial round of meetings has already been scheduled with each Children’s Centre advisory board and will conclude by mid November.
  1. This phase of consultation would seek to identify alternative uses for those community buildings it is proposed that the Council should cease to maintain. It is proposed that this period of engagement should take place over a six-week period and conclude before the end of December 2011. The outcomes of the budget consultation would be reflected in this round of engagement and inform the development of more detailed proposals.
  1. A number of other service providers and organisations, such as private day-care nurseries, those who hold Service Level Agreements leases and licences with the Council. These providers would be engaged to both understand the proposals to seek to mitigate, where possible, any adverse affects on their business and assess alternative opportunities. This will reflect the Authority’s duty to ensure adequate childcare of the right types is available to families who need it.
  1. A significant proportion of sites currently used as part of the Children’s Centre network are school based. Schools are therefore key stakeholders and will be actively engaged in an assessment of future options for use of space within schools currently used for Children’s Centre services.
  1. Views obtained in this first phase of consultation would be reflected in more detailed proposals which would be the subject of a second, more formal, phase of consultation in January. These proposals would be consulted on for a period of four weeks. The second phase of consultation would be wide-ranging and involve the wider community. It would however concentrate on those families, parent/carers and stakeholders that would be most affected by the proposed changes.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT (IA)

  1. A Level 1 impact assessment has been carried out on the outline proposals for the restructuring of Children’s Centre services.
  1. A further, more detailed assessment will be made in conjunction with the development of more detailed proposals. The Impact Assessment is anticipated to reflect the nature of the Children’s Centre services, which target vulnerable groups and those in most need, the basis of which is to improve equality. The outcomes of the assessment will be used to underpin the Council’s work to fulfill its duty, under the Childcare Act 2006, to provide services in such a way as to reduce inequalities between young children.

THE PROPOSALS

33.The initial selection of Children’s Centre sites presented for closure within the recent budget consultation was subject to an options appraisals process. This aimed to refocus services on those areas in most need. The selection process to determine those centres that the Council would withdraw from was based upon current usage, the location of more vulnerable families, the practicalities of continued service delivery in the accommodation available and the pattern of ability for families to access services within localities of the town.

34.In line with the requirement to make substantial savings in the budget for the 2012/13 and future financial years, there are no other options available than to reduce the stock of buildings utilised directly by the local authority as Children’s Centres and redesign service delivery based on current priorities. Some of the risks associated with the proposals are set out below. These and others will be explored in depth during the first phase of consultation.

Children’s Centres Community Buildings

35.To accommodate a reduction in the number of sites used by Children’s Centres the following proposals are based on a refocus of work with families to support more vulnerable children and families to improve their life prospects. Consideration would be given to alternative delivery routes such as use of locality hubs and within the family home.

  • Hemlington Children’s Centre

The proposal is that Hemlington Children’s Centre at Viewley Hill Primary School remains. It would support vulnerable children and families within the current catchment area, extended to include the current Coulby Newham Children Centre area. A staff team would be retained at this base for the south locality. The current partnership with the provider of daycare could continue and contribute to the income of the Centre. There are limited risks to retaining premises which were purpose built seven years ago.

  • Coulby Newham Children’s Centre

The Coulby Newham Children’s Centre delivers services from four sties. The proposal is to close Coulby Newham Children’s Centre and its sites at Rosewood Primary School, St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Primary School and the Avenue Primary School. Support for vulnerable children and families would be offered within the home, other community venues and from Hemlington Children’s Centre. The premises are attached to or within school buildings with the potential for schools to adopt and incorporate space into extended schools delivery or school usage. Should schools or alternative early years provider not wish to use the space to be vacated, there is a risk that the Department for Education could invoke a clawback charge on previous investment.

  • Linthorpe Children’s Centre

The proposal is that Linthorpe Children’s Centre at Linthorpe Primary School remains. It would support vulnerable children and families from the Linthorpe, Acklam Children Centre and Brookfield Kader Children’s Centre areas. The catchment area of the centre would be extended to include the wards of Acklam, Kader. There are limited risks to retaining the premises which were purpose built and six years old.

Martonside Children’s Centre

Martonside Children’s Centre delivers services from three sites. The proposal is that Martonside Children’s Centre remains with the sites at Easterside and Grove Hill Resource Centres as well as the Martonside site. It would continue to support vulnerable children and families from those areas and also offer services to families from the Acklam Children Centre and Brookfield Kader Children’s Centre areas. There are related proposals to integrate the Children’s Centre and the Integrated Youth Service to create a 0-19 facility in Easterside.

Acklam Children’s Centre

Acklam Children’s Centre delivers services from three sites. The proposal is to close Acklam Children’s Centre including the sites at Green Lane Primary School and Newham Bridge Primary School. Support for vulnerable children and families would be offered in the home, at Martonside Children’s Centre or Linthorpe Children’s Centre. There is potential for schools to adopt and incorporate space into extended schools delivery. Agreements could be renegotiated with existing childcare providers as a sub-let arrangement which includes all costs associated with the site. Should schools or alternative early years provider not wish to use the space to be vacated, there is a risk that the Department for Education could invoke a clawback charge on previous investment.

Brookfield Kader Children’s Centre

Brookfield Kader Children’s Centre delivers services from three sites. The proposal is to close Brookfield Kader Children’s Centre including sites at Acklam Whin Primary School and Kader Primary School. Support for vulnerable children and families would be offered in the home, or at Martonside Children’s Centre or Linthorpe Children’s Centre. Premises are attached to or within school buildings with the potential for schools to adopt and incorporate space into extended schools delivery or school usage. Agreements could be renegotiated with existing childcare providers as a sub-let arrangement which includes all costs associated with the site. Should the school or an alternative early years provider not wish to use the space to be vacated, there is a risk that the Department for Education could invoke a clawback charge on previous investment.