New approach to delivering vital services through children's centres
Publication date: Friday 13 May 2011
Haringey Council today published its revised approach to delivering children’s centres following central government cuts.
Huge reductions to the grants for early years' by the Department for Education means the council has no option but to reduce the range of services on offer at children’s centres and radically rethink their management and organisation.
It also means the council withdrawing direct support to three centres – Highgate, Rokesly and Northbank and to the linked site at Tower Gardens.
The move follows consultation with users of children's centres across Haringey, with the council reducing the number of clusters from eight to four, increasing the number of centres in each cluster.
This reduces the number of managers required, releasing funding to the frontline.
The idea of "lead centres" and "full" and "standard" offers of services has also been withdrawn following feedback.
Speaking about the new approach, Cllr Lorna Reith, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People said:
“Children’s centres were introduced as a way of putting children and their families in touch with a range of much needed services, all under one roof. The number and detail of the responses we’ve had to the consultation goes to show how popular and successful our centres are.
“But we’re simply no longer receiving the funding from central government needed to maintain the children’s centres in the same way. Our priority in deciding how the centres are run in the future has to be our most vulnerable children. Our proposals target services where there are the highest numbers of children who need our help most.
“This has been a complex process and decisions have not been made easily. I fully recognise how much local families value the services at Highgate, Rokesley and Northbank which is why I’m pleased that, following our discussions with health providers, we can confirm all important health services like ante and post-natal classes, breastfeeding support and baby weighing will continue from the same venues as they operate from now."
Funding has also been put aside by the council for commissioned health services such as speech and language therapy.
The children's centre cluster groups have been configured on the basis of existing collaborative working or suggestions from the children's centres themselves and are as follows:
Cluster 1
- Broadwater Farm
- Park Lane
- Pembury House
- Welbourne
- Bruce Grove
Cluster 2
- Stonecroft
- Stroud Green
- Campsbourne
Cluster 3
- Earlsmead
- The Ladder
- South Grove
- Triangle
- Woodlands Park
- Downhills
Cluster 4
- Bounds Green
- Noel Park
- Rowland Hill
- Woodside
The council now proposes that centres within each cluster work together to ensure that they use the funding allocated to them to ensure that the full range of services are provided to the families that most need them.
Within each cluster, there will be a variation in the services available and the opening times for each centre. This will be organised and agreed across the cluster through a children's centre Cluster Manager and Local Partnership Boards. The Cluster Managers will be appointed and line-managed by the council.
Local Partnership Boards will be created with representation from all the governing bodies of the present children's centres, head teachers, parents, the council and professional partners in the cluster. These will be advisory bodies that will participate in planning and evaluating services to be delivered across the cluster.
No changes are proposed to the way that childcare is delivered. However, the council also consulted on an increase to childcare fees for children under two. The proposed increase reflects the actual cost of care for this age group and would improve the sustainability of the service within the current budget constraints. This increase will go ahead and a further review of charges according to parental income will be undertaken later in the year.
Detailed consultation is now starting with staff working in children's centres as the reduction in funding and the changes to the operating model will affect posts at all levels. The consultation process will follow the agreed processes for restructuring and will be referred to the council’s Corporate Committee for decisions in June 2011.
- In February 2011 the council's Cabinet agreed it had to make savings of £6.519m to the Children's Centres and Early Years budget for 2011/12.
- The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People and the Director of the Children and Young People's Service have delegated authority from Cabinet to make a decision on the future of Children's Centres. They will consider the consultation results and recommendations from officers and take a decision at a meeting on Wednesday 18 May, 2pm at the Civic Centre.
- The documents that will be considered at this meeting can be viewed at Children's centre in Haringey agenda minutes page.
- These include an analysis of all the comments received. An accessible 'Consultation report on proposed changes to Haringey’s Children's Centres and children centre services' will be available shortly.
- The council received 976 completed questionnaires and 65 emails and letters from parents and carers, school governors, staff and managers of children's centres, professional partners, commissioned services and voluntary organisations and councillors up to and including 22 April 2011.
- In addition one petition from parents and carers at Highgate Children's Centre, a set of posters made by children from Earlsmead Children's Centre and a video response from parents and carers who use Broadwater Farm Children's Centre was also received.
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