Agenda item

This paper describes the rationale for the review and restructure of Children’s Centres, Early Years and Extended Services as a result of national and local policy, local reviews and national and local financial contexts.  The report asks the Cabinet Member for Education, Children and Young People to approve the restructure.

RESOLVED:That the Cabinet Member approved Option 1 and so approved the revised structure to enable the delivery of both universal and targeted services against the key principles described in Paragraph 9 of the Officer report, to meet the statutory duties of the Local Authority and to improve outcomes for all children and families.

REASON:            Option 1 keeps all 9 Childrens Centres open, thus providing both universal and targeted services to the most deprived areas of the City, improving outcomes for users. Services are deliverable with the appropriate balance of management, front line delivery and support posts, and the structure will deliver savings still to be found in the 2012-2013 budget. Statutory duties across Early Years will be met.

The Cabinet Member considered a report which described the rationale for the review and restructure of Children’s Centres, Early Years and Extended Services as a result of national and local policy, local reviews and national and local financial contexts. The report asked the Cabinet Member to approve the restructure.

In response to the written representation and questions from Unison, Officers advised as follows:

·        There will be a formal review of the 3 strand structure. It will be checked within 6 weeks to look for any initial problems, then again at Christmas and Easter followed by a formal review after 1 year. The views of stakeholders and partners will be considered.

·        Key roles will be looked at across Early Years and a simple summary chart will be drawn up of the roles to establish who is responsible for what.

·        In relation to a post that delivers Extended Learning Opportunities, Officers advised that whilst this had been considered and although they did not want to undervalue such a role, at the moment it would not be possible to fund a part time position. It would be something that could happen in the future.

·        It is positive that 9 Children Centres have stayed open, but with a reduced number of staff, the opening times will need to be looked at. Numbers of staff at each centre would be based on the need in each area and the particular Centre.

·        The 28% reduction in Government funding  and the £1.8m shortfall in grants would not all be met through the restructure. In terms of staffing the figure is 4-500,000k  with the rest being found through other routes. Staffing decisions had not been a ‘knee jerk’ reaction and had been done in consultation with Unions and taking into consideration the strategic responsibility to Early Years and Children’s Centres.

The Cabinet Member thanked Officers for the report and Unison for their feedback and then made the following comments:

·        It is important to look at the budget now to avoid further cuts in following years as it is not anticipated that there will be any more cash available in the future.

·        It is important to measure the effectiveness of work in Children’s Centres and to consider how the work fits in with the Community Cohesion Agenda . Ideally the Children’s Centres would be open for longer but this needs to be balanced by jobs.

·        The Cabinet Member suggested work could be undertaken with the Director of Communities and Neighbourhood’s team to identify opportunities for the Children’s Centre buildings to be used for other community groups and purposes.

RESOLVED:That the Cabinet Member approved Option 1 and so approved the revised structure to enable the delivery of both universal and targeted services against the key principles described in Paragraph 9 of the Officer report, to meet the statutory duties of the Local Authority and to improve outcomes for all children and families.

REASON:            Option 1 keeps all 9 Childrens Centres open, thus providing both universal and targeted services to the most deprived areas of the City, improving outcomes for users. Services are deliverable with the appropriate balance of management, front line delivery and support posts, and the structure will deliver savings still to be found in the 2012-2013 budget. Statutory duties across Early Years will be met.