Proposed changes to children’s centre services to go out to public consultation

Plans to deliver children’s centres services from six new family hubs across Shropshire will go out to public consultation at the end of the month.

The proposals – which were considered by Shropshire Council’s Cabinet today – have been drawn up following a previous consultation held in February and March 2018 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.

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 says it 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 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. An online version of the consultation questionnaire will also be available.

Nick Bardsley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children’s services, 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.”