People to be asked for views on proposed changes to children’s centre services

Plans to deliver children’s centres services from six new family hubs across Shropshire will go out to public consultation from 29 May to 12 July 2018, and people are being urged to have their say.

Under the proposals, services would be delivered from six key buildings instead of the existing 26 buildings, namely: The Centre – Oswestry; Richmond House – Shrewsbury; Crowmoor Centre – Shrewsbury; Rockspring Centre – Ludlow; and buildings in Whitchurch and Bridgnorth that are yet to be decided.

Chidren’s centre services would continue to be provided from the six new hubs, and through local community venues and home visits.

Services provided by Shropshire Council’s partners will also continue, including midwifery services, health visitor services and services for vulnerable and disadvantaged children, especially those with special needs.

Shropshire Council does not intend to close the 20 unneeded buildings but anticipates that they would be used by other organisations providing services for children and families.

The proposals – which were considered by Shropshire Council’s Cabinet today (2 May 2018) – have been drawn up following a previous consultation held in February and March 2018 (see notes) in which families, stakeholders and staff were asked for their views on the idea of family hubs. Their views and opinions have helped to shape the proposals that will now go to further consultation.

The consultation will begin on 29 May and run for six weeks and some 25 public meetings will be held from 4 June to 12 July (see list below). People will also be able to complete an online version of the consultation  questionnaire via the Shropshire Council website, or complete and return a hard copy.

Nick Bardsley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children’s services and education, said:

“We want to provide support to children and families who are most in need of our help, quickly and in the right way. There are many families who receive support from a number of organisations to help with problems they are facing, but this support isn’t always coordinated in a way that makes sense to the family. This causes confusion and frustration for the family and it does not always enable things to improve quickly enough, or for those improvements to be sustained.

“This, together with the need to secure £875,000 savings, means that a change in approach is required. We currently spend an awful lot of money on a lot of building, some of which are only used for a very small part of the week. We think it’d far better to focus our resources on providing services for those who need our help, rather than paying for buildings.

“The proposed new delivery model for Early Help services across the county will provide whole family support, dealing with all the issues a family faces, with their full involvement and consent. The principle of delivering these services through bases or hubs was generally well received during the first consultation but now we want to know people’s views about these more detailed proposals, and about the proposed locations of the six hubs.”

Further information

June/July 2018 – public consultation events

Monday 4 June
1.30pm – 2.30pm Ellesmere Children’s Centre

Tuesday 5 June
10.00am – 11.00am Meole Children’s Centre, Shrewsbury
10.30am – 11.30pm Cleobury Mortimer, Country Centre

Wednesday 6 June
1.30pm – 2.30pm Woodside Children’s Centre, Oswestry
2.00pm – 3.00pm Trinity Methodist Hall, Shifnal

Monday 11 June
10.00 am – 11.00am Sunflower House, Shrewsbury
2.00pm – 3.00pm St Mary’s Children’s Centre, Bridgnorth
7.00pm – 8.00pm Church Stretton, Mayfair Centre

Tuesday 12 June
10.00 am – 11.00am Honeysuckle Lodge, Martin Wilson School, Shrewsbury

Wednesday 13 June
2.00pm – 3.00pm Mereside School, Shrewsbury

Thursday 14 June
10.00am – 11.00am Buttercup Lodge, Sundorne Infant School, Shrewsbury

Monday 18 June
7.00pm – 8.00pm Whitchurch, Civic Centre

Tuesday 19 June
10.30am – 11.30am Highley, Severn Centre
6.30pm – 7.30pm Bishop’s Castle Children’s Centre

Wednesday 20 June
2.00pm – 3.00pm Albrighton Children’s Centre

Tuesday 26 June
1.30pm – 2.30pm Broseley, Birch Meadow Centre

Thursday 21 June
10.00am – 11.00am Baschurch Children’s Centre

Thursday 28 June
10.00am – 11.00am Bayston Hill, Library

Monday 2 July
10.00am – 11.00am Wem Children’s Centre

Tuesday 3 July
2.00pm – 3.00pm Minsterley, Parish Rooms

Wednesday 4 July
10.00am – 11.00am Craven Arms Children’s Centre
1.30pm – 2.30pm Children’s Centre, Market Drayton Infant School

Thursday 12 July
(Childminders’ network)
6.30pm – 7.30pm Shrewsbury, Riversway / Shawbury / Much Wenlock, Primary School

February/March Consultation feedback

Service user, staff and stakeholder engagement and consultation was undertaken in February and March 2018. This gathered views on a new delivery model i.e. integrated teams based in localities and accommodated in Family Hubs. 459 respondents took part in the consultation, 273 people attended workshops, 186 respondents completed the on line questionnaire.

The public expressed broad agreement about the benefits of integrated, multiagency, multi-disciplinary teams based in Family Hubs where a one stop shop of provision will support access and inclusion. It will be important therefore to further strengthen the relationship with partners including schools, health, police, housing, the community and voluntary sector and commissioned services ie the 0-25 public health nursing provision and the 0-25 Emotional Health and Wellbeing service delivering mental health services.

However, some concerns were expressed, particularly by members of the public who expressed the view that the proposals would impact negatively on some universal services – notably child care and stay and play, and parenting courses.

A full breakdown and analysis of the consultation feedback can be found in the appendices to the Cabinet report.