Agenda item

This report advises the Committee of a notice of call-in received from eight Members of the Council of Cabinet decision 44/2017:

The Cabinet agreed to a public consultation of six weeks to gain feedback from all interested parties in respect of the proposals set out in section 3.1 of the Cabinet report (attached at Appendix 1).

The Committee must consider the Cabinet decision and decide either to take no further action, to refer the decision back to Cabinet for reconsideration or to refer the matter to full Council.

Discussion:

Members considered a report regarding a call-in received from eight Members of the Council of a Cabinet decision (44/2017) to commence a six-week public consultation on the transformation of Early Help services, including Children’s Centres, through the establishment of integrated hub buildings in each of the existing four Children’s Services areas to target resources and improve the impact of support for children and families. The Committee was requested to consider the Cabinet decision and decide either to take no further action, refer the decision back to Cabinet for reconsideration, or refer the matter to full Council. 

Councillor Murray, the Lead Member for the call-in, explained the reasons for the call-in as outlined in paragraph 2.2 of the report. In particular, she made the following points to the Committee:

·         Concerns that the proposed model for four hubs was shortsighted and would not provide local and accessible services for families as they were currently delivered by Children’s Centres, and that the role Children’s Centres played in reducing isolation, supporting positive health outcomes, and enhancing school performance would not be replicated by a hub model;

·         Concerns that the business case behind the proposals was inadequate and should be reviewed ahead of any proposed consultation;

·         Retaining Children’s Centres would enable the Council to meet both its Public Health and Council Plan objectives;

·         Moving to the hub model would result in the loss of 50 jobs;

·         ChildrensCentres had transformed the lives of families who would otherwise be isolated;

·         The Sure Start initiative had helped recruit the Early Years workers of the future;

·         Concerns that the proposals placed too much focus on providing outreach services in users’ homes, and that this would make detection of safeguarding issues more difficult for staff.

The Director of Children and Adult Services then gave a presentation to the Committee on the proposals for the transformation of Early Help Services. He explained that the Council has a statutory duty to provide sufficient access to early childhood services directly, either in the community, at home, in a Children’s Centre or through supplying advice and assistance to parents and prospective parents on gaining access to other services. He confirmed that current legislation provided flexibility on how Early Help Services could be delivered, but that the Council was required to consult with service users and stakeholders ahead of any major changes to service provision.

The Director explained that changes to central government funding and local budget pressures meant that the network of Children’s Centres in its current configuration was unsustainable. The current model included 19 Children’s Centres, 18 of which were located in primary schools. Services were jointly agreed and delivered with partner agencies and it was intended that this strategic integrated approach would continue.

He said that the proposed family hub model would provide a greater level of co-ordinated services to support vulnerable families. This would be an area-based service that brought together multi-agency Early Help teams with safeguarding services in partnership with schools and community provision. Each multi-agency team would serve one of four areas in Medway and these areas would reflect local need and demand for services. Early Help outreach and Public Health services would also be delivered from satellite sites, some of which may be existing Children Centre sites. The hub model including satellite sites would allow for more integrated working with families and ensure support could be provided more effectively to families and children across the age range with the greatest need.

The Director advised that 38 consultation events were planned to take place over a six week period with Children Centre staff, service users and other stakeholders across a number of venues to obtain feedback on the new proposals.

The Committee then heard representations from a number of speakers.

Dr Eleanor Jupp. Lecturer in Social Policy, University of Kent, said that any suggestion that the Children’s Centre model had not proved its worth in delivering multi disciplinary services was inaccurate. Current research suggested that hubs should be used to deliver services alongside Children’s Centres and not in place of them. She added that it had been reported that in Oxford, where the hub model had been introduced, Early Help staff were finding it harder to engage with vulnerable families where police and social services colleagues were located in the same setting.

Rachel Rodwell, a Domestic Violence and Vulnerable Families Advocate emphasised the important role Children’s Centres played in supporting the developmental, and in particular, the mental health needs of young children. She added that she had observed an unprecedented escalation in children presenting with symptoms of traumatic experiences. Children’s Centres provided parenting support and could help combat social isolation by providing parents with an opportunity to develop friendship groups and support networks. She did not consider that providing mental health training for Teachers and Teaching Assistants was the answer. Preventative services were only a pram walk away at Children’s Centres where staff could get to know service users and build up trust.

Laura Everhurst, Pastoral Manager at The Pilgrim School, Rochester, read a statement on behalf of Janet Taylor, Headteacher at The Pilgrim School. Ms Taylor stressed the important role Children’s Centres performed in serving communities with diverse needs and in helping families feel valued and supported. She feared that the new model would lead to a downward trend in educational standards. Ms Everhurst, in her own capacity, added that she believed the proposed locations of the new hubs would be a barrier to low-income families who could not afford to travel to access services. She also noted that a significant strength of local Children’s Centres was that staff were in a position to build trust with local families making it easier to assess needs and effectively signpost services, and that this would be difficult to replicate within a hub model where staff would be expected to work with larger numbers of families over a wider geographical area.

The Committee also heard representations from two service users who shared their personal experiences and emphasised the range of benefits they had gained from using Children’s Centre services at a local level and the difficulties they would face if these were no longer available. In particular, they emphasised that Children’s Centres provided a convenient, welcoming venue through which to access a number of services, including midwives, health visitors, and counselling services. They also highlighted the role Children’s Centres played in providing parents with opportunities to volunteer and gain experience in a children’s health and welfare setting which could lead to further study and employment.

Copies of testimonials submitted by service users were also circulated.

Members then raised the following comments and questions:

Definition of vulnerable – in response to the point that the new hub model would target services to vulnerable families who needed them most, a Member commented that it was important that ‘vulnerable’ wasn’t defined solely in terms of a family’s financial status.

Health outcomes – Members highlighted the important role that Early Help services played in supporting positive health outcomes around antenatal care, smoking cessation, management of diabetes, and mental health.

Key Stage 2 attainment – a Member noted that there was evidence to suggest that the parenting support and early development services provided at Children’s Centres had a positive impact on children’s academic attainment at KS2.

Satellite sites – in response to a question about the location of the proposed satellite sites and whether these would be subject to Ofsted inspections, the Director for Children and Adult Services noted that a number of sites were being considered and services provided from satellite sites would be subject to inspection. He also emphasised that the satellite sites would be best placed to provide services to those families who might have problems travelling to one of the four hubs.

Accessibility of services – Members stressed the importance of the new hubs being accessible by public transport, and that services should be available outside of school hours so that working parents could access them.

Delivery models – a Member noted that he had contacted other local authorities who had experienced a similar cut in Early Years funding and they had all confirmed they were implementing or looking to implement a hub-based model.

The Committee considered a proposal thatCabinet be asked to review its decision before any consultation took place to allow sufficient time, resources and research for a proper business case to be developed, and for a fourth option, retention of the 19 Children’s Centres to be included.

On being put to the vote, the proposal was lost.

Councillors Murray, Cooper and Johnson requested that their votes for the proposal should be recorded in the minutes as provided for in Council Rule 12.6.

Decision:

The Committee accepted the Cabinet decision 44/2017, as set out in paragraph 2.1 of the report, and agreed to take no further action.

Councillors Murray, Cooper and Johnson requested that their votes against this proposal should be recorded in the minutes as provided for in Council Rule 12.6.