28 March 2018
We want to ensure that they provide targeted help to support families at most risk of poor outcomes.
Children’s centre services work to give children a great start in life, and are managed on behalf of the county council by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Family Action and North Notts College.
The children’s centre contract in Nottinghamshire is currently worth more than £10m – more than double the budget of regional local authority neighbours and similar local authorities.
No money is being taken out of the budget. We’ve identified for some of our internal early help teams to deliver some of the elements of support so we are therefore bringing those strands of service back inside the council. This simply changes the value of the contract with the provider by £0.5m per year over the next two years.
As early help teams are often already working with older children in these families, this will deliver further joined-up support and those families will still have access to all the support that children’s centres provide. We have identified academic evidence of what works and we’re using this evidence to develop effective services.
The future plans have been discussed by the council’s Children and Young People’s Committee, which has agreed to the children’s centres to become more targeted to support children at risk of poor educational outcomes and those experiencing family disadvantage.
Our local children’s centres help develop children so they are ready for school; provide support to help those most at risk of developmental delay to close the attainment gap; makes parents job ready with increased aspirations for themselves and their children, and boosts the emotional health and wellbeing of both parents and children.
As well as providing more volunteer opportunities, there are plans for early years providers and schools to be invited to lease rooms within children’s centres to create new childcare places. This would be particularly useful with the roll out of 30 hours a week of funded childcare to three and four year olds, which has created extra demand for childcare provision in the county.
Councillor Philip Owen is the Committee Chairman for Children and Young People’s Services, at Nottinghamshire County Council
