Contact: Cliff Turner, Deputy Branch Manager, Children and Families Branch, Children's Services Department, 01962 846533

1 Summary

1.1 This report sets the direction for the development of children's centres within Hampshire, particularly in relation to Phase II , as part of the Government's national strategy to develop 2,500 Sure Start Children's Centres by 2008.

1.2 Within Hampshire, six children's centres have been designated under Phase I (to serve families living in the 20% most disadvantaged wards) with a further two working towards designation. There is a requirement to meet the Government's target for a further 53 centres in Hampshire by 31 March 2008. The total number of children aged under 5, expected to be reached by children's centres during 2008 is 42,559. ("Reach" refers to the number of children who are able to access services delivered by the centre). These two targets will be monitored as part of the wider Every Child Matters Improvement Cycle for children's services. By November 2005, Hampshire County Council must inform the Government Office (South East) which wards have been identified as possible locations of children's centres based on indicators of disadvantage.

1.3 This report seeks permission to consult with local parents and other stakeholders within 53 Notional Catchment Areas of the county that have been identified by the index of multiple deprivation (IMD) and child population figures.

1.4 The development of children's centres supports:

_ Aim one of the Corporate Strategy : maximising life opportunities;

_ Aim four of the Corporate Strategy: building strong and safe communities.

1.5 All five aims of the Children Act are supported through these developments:

_ Be healthy;

_ Stay safe;

_ Enjoy and achieve;

_ Make a positive contribution; and

_ Achieve economic well-being.

2 The Government's Strategy to develop Sure Start Children's Centres

2.1 Sure Start Children's Centres are one of the key delivery mechanisms to achieve the objectives set out in the Government's Every Child Matters programme. The aim is to improve outcomes for all young children and, in particular, to close the gap between the outcome for the most disadvantaged children and others. Outcomes and options for children, families and their communities will be enhanced by increasing the availability of high quality integrated childcare and early learning, health services, family support services and outreach provision. The Government is seeking to bring services together at neighbourhood level and where possible located within `one-stop-shops' to support parents and carers. Children's centres are also crucial to the Government's ten year childcare strategy, `Choices for Parents, the Best Start for Children'.

2.2 In line with the principles of Every Child Matters, Change for Children Programme, the Government believes that universal services must include support for those in most need, and should be tailored to meet particular needs of individual children, their families, and the communities in which they are based.

2.3 Sure Start Children's Centres will provide a range of services, depending on local need and parental choice. The aim is for a network of centres across the county, offering information, advice and support to parents/carers as well as early years provision of integrated childcare and early learning, health services, outreach and employment advice for disadvantaged families.

2.4 It is important to note that services offered will not be the same everywhere because needs and communities vary greatly. The greatest resource will go to those children in most need, identified through the index of multiple deprivation, with the intention being that children's centres will become permanent mainstream community services.

2.5 In Hampshire, to drive the implementation of children's centres, a multi-agency steering group has been established, meeting monthly. This initiative is being led by Pam Morland, Strategic Manager, Childcare and Support, Early Education and Childcare Unit on secondment from Haven Children's Centre.

3 The principles underlying developments in Hampshire

3.1 In developing children's centres in Hampshire, we will

_ Reflect the diverse needs of the local children, families and communities being served;

_ Deliver high quality integrated and inclusive services, working in partnership with other agencies, co-located where possible;

_ Consult with the community and local parents to ensure that children's centres are developed with parents to meet the needs of the local families;

_ Learn from existing examples of good practice, both at local and national level;

_ Develop integrated planning, management, budgets and staffing, where appropriate;

_ Build on existing provision wherever possible.

4 What Hampshire needs to do

4.1 As indicated in paragraph 1.2, Hampshire County Council has a target to establish a further 53 children's centres by 2008. 53 Notional Catchment Areas have been identified representing all wards ranked between 15% and 60% according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation. To be viable, some children's centres will need to serve several wards and, therefore, there will be consultation with local people on "best fit" arrangements.

4.2 There are two categories of children's centres that can be established. "Full core offer" children's centres must be located within the 30% most disadvantaged wards. A centre can be designated under this category as soon as the following are in place:

_ The centre is open a minimum of 5 days a week, 10 hours a day, 48 weeks a year.

_ Plans are in place to provide health and outreach services to families in need within an agreed geographical area.

_ Integrated care and learning for children from birth to five is being provided with 0.5 teacher appointed.

_ Links with Jobcentre Plus have been agreed.

4.3 The second category is that of a `graduated model' covering the 70% most `advantaged' areas. In the main, these children's centres should be developed from existing maintained, private, voluntary or community provision with additional services being added to meet identified local needs. Although local authorities will have flexibility in which services they need to provide to meet local need, all centres will have to provide a minimum range of services including:

_ The centre is open a minimum of 5 days a week, 10 hours a day, 48 weeks a year.

_ Plans are in place to provide health and outreach services to families in need within an agreed geographical area.

_ Integrated care and learning for children from birth to five is being provided with 0.5 teacher appointed (where applicable)

or

_ drop-in activity sessions for children such as stay and play sessions take place.

_ Links with JobCentre Plus have been agreed.

4.4 Initial designation is not an end in itself but just the first step in what must be in place within two years of designation. Local Authorities are required to update a web-based reporting system as other services such as health provision, family support etc. come on stream.

4.5 The next step is to request permission to consult with local parents and other stakeholders about how to develop existing provision, where any new provision should be located and any specific aspirations given the nature of local communities.

4.6 Appendix One details a list of the target wards (some of which are linked), the number of children in each individual ward aged 0-5, the project reach, the Index of Multiple Deprivation for that ward and the model of children's centre being recommended. Note that the lower the percentage, the more deprived the area.

5 Legal implications

5.1 Section 10 of the Children Act 2004 places a duty on each Children's Services Authority to make arrangements to promote cooperation between itself and relevant partner agencies to improve the well being of children in their area. Section 11 of the same Act imposes a duty to make arrangements for ensuring functions are discharged with regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The Early Education and Childcare Unit will need professional advice on establishing model governance arrangements for children's centres.

6 Financial implications

6.1 Children centre allocated funding to Hampshire County Council under Phase II (financial years 2006/7 and 2007/8) comprises:

_ Capital allocation £9,515,160

_ Revenue allocation £7,958,958

Total: £17,474,118

6.2 Hampshire County Council has also been allocated additional funding, as indicated below, to focus on the delivery of services in rural communities. This funding must identify specific communities to reach.

_ Capital allocation £ 200,000

_ Revenue allocation £ 218,000

6.3 The Government intends that the funding for children's centres will form part of the same funding package as extended schools as both initiatives form part of the same vision for integrated services. Given the Government's ten year strategy for early years, and the funding review scheduled for 2008/9, it seems reasonable to indicate that there may be continuing central Government funding beyond 2008. Nevertheless, it will be essential to combine funding streams from different sources.

6.4 An appropriate core staffing model will be required to run Hampshire's centres including management, qualified teacher input, community facilities, administration and, in the case of "full offer" centres, childcare staff. There will be staffing variations depending on the centre's size and the services it will provide. Hampshire will also require a children's centre support team to progress these developments and to support the centres in their longer term activities. This team will have both a county strategic function and coordinators within local areas.

6.5 Centres may be required to pay rent, utilities and cover the cost of general maintenance of the buildings they occupy depending on their status. Premises and other establishment costs are being calculated on a rate per square metre in line with the calculation for schools. In addition, children's centres will also require service level agreements to ensure that support services are in place. Service level agreements will be investigated by the EECU to provide overarching agreements for all Hampshire's children's centres to streamline this process. The following support services would need to be considered:

_ Information Technology;

_ Personnel;

_ Finance;

_ Legal;

_ Insurance;

_ Buildings Maintenance;

_ Grounds Maintenance;

_ Caretaking.

6.6 Access to support services need to be considered in the context of overall governance of children's centres.

6.7 There are very significant financial implications associated with this initiative, not least that the capital allocation will not go far in addressing target specifications for children's centres, even allowing for the fact that the range of services offered and the amount of building work required will vary from centre to centre. Crudely, the funding on offer amounts to about £180,000 per centre on average, or about £155,000 once professional fees have been deducted. There is likely to be a significant funding gap which needs to be addressed in some way. The greatest impact is likely to fall in 2007/08.

6.8 The number of individual building contracts likely to be required will take a considerable amount of time to specify, organise and execute. This will be difficult to achieve before the end of March 2008, given other capital projects in hand. A first priority therefore will be to develop the existing early years centres as children's centres.

7 Personnel implications

Significant personnel issues will emerge as Hampshire County Council develops children's centres.

8 Impact assessment

8.1 Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

9 Crime prevention issues

9.1 The Local Authority has considered its obligations and approach under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. The approach being developed by Hampshire is consistent with these requirements.

10 Views of the Local County Councillor

10.1 Local Members will have an opportunity to express their views during local consultations.

Recommendations

1 To approve the strategy regarding the location of children's centres, as set out in this report;

2 To consult with local parents and other stakeholders on their needs and aspirations for their children and the development of children's centres in the 53 Notional Catchment Areas identified in Appendix One;

3 Report back to the Children's Services Policy Review Committee and to the Executive Member for Children's Services.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None.