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Q: Will there be a change in the focus of Children’s Centre services? A: This is possible, subject to consultation. The current proposal is that 80% of future services will be targeted at families “in greatest need” and 20% of services will be aimed at all families (“universal”). This is different to now, as a lot of services run many activities that are universally available. A definition of “in greatest need” has recently been discussed with partners and Cluster Managers and will soon be finalised. Options are also being looked at to see whether some of the funding should be based on rurality.
Q: Are any Children’s Centres in Somerset going to close? A: There are no plans to close any Children's Centres. Service delivery will continue as usual. It is likely that some of the existing Children’s Centre buildings will be managed differently in the future. No changes will take place until full consultation has taken place.
Q: If Children’s Centre buildings are used differently in the future, what will happen to existing Children’s Centre services? A: Children’s Centre services in Somerset are currently available from 151 different “access points” across the county. These include Children’s Centre buildings, GP surgeries, schools, village halls and a wide range of community venues. The current proposal is that there will be little change to the number of access points, although the locations may be different to those we use now. We need to make sure that the access points are financially sustainable, useful to families and joined up with other Council functions. For example, we are working with the Library Service to see whether some Children's Centre services could be delivered from library meeting rooms in the future.
Q: How will decisions be made about which Children's Centre buildings might be used differently in the future? What factors will be taken into account? A: Following consultation proposals will be submitted to SCC Cabinet for a decision. We would need to look at where the greatest need for Children's Centre services currently is and audit the existing buildings to see whether they are suitable to be used as future "hubs". Suitability will be determined by things like the condition, size, location and accessibility of the Centre. Decisions to use existing buildings differently will be based on wide-ranging discussions with key partners, for example, the Early Years Sufficiency Team, Libraries Service, Property Service and Schools. We will also talk to families, community groups and volunteer organisations to see what other ideas there are using buildings differently.
Q: How many "hub" Children's Centres will there be? A: This will be subject to consultation although it is likely that there will be a number of 'hubs' how many will be informed by the consultation. The hubs would be supported by a wide network of "community access points" and outreach across the county, in the same way we do now.
Q: Are there still plans to commission out Children's Centres? A: Not at this stage. The current focus is on the restructure of Children's Centre services. Once this has happened, we may investigate what options there are for commissioning services differently in the future.
Q: How will we meet Ofsted expectations if staff levels are reduced? A: The current proposals recommend that Children's Centres get inspected on a District basis in the future, rather than by each individual Children's Centre (5 inspections instead of 41). Subject to consultation one of the proposals also puts forward a suggestion that some of the existing Children's Centres become de-registered with the DfE. Fewer registered buildings and fewer inspections would mean a much-reduced workload for inspection planning.
Q: How can Children's Centres increase registration of families within their reach and improve outcomes for families if we have a reduction in staff and resources? A: The current proposals recommend that, in the future, Children's Centre services focus on increasing the registration of families in greatest need of intervention and further support, rather than all families universally. If this is agreed, it should make us better able to target reduced resources and staffing levels at those families who need support the most.
Q: What are the time scales for the proposed changes? A: Key dates are included on the Timeline and Events page. This information is updated at least fortnightly and is subject to change.
Q: Will there be an alignment of the Early Help Strategy to Early Intervention Pods A: Yes the Early Help Strategy will be an overarching strategy which will look at all early help services and will ensure coherence and better integrated working.
Page updated 16/10/13
