Contact: Anne Odling, 01962 847756, [email protected]

Pete Marsh, 01962 846805, [email protected]

Tracey Sanders, 01962 813872, [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 This report seeks the approval of the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services for grant applications for 2007/08 totalling £751,748 recommended by the Youth Services, the Children and Families Branch, and the Early Education and Childcare Unit. The aim of this report is to provide the Executive Lead Member with sufficient information to decide on the grant applications.

1.2 Although the grant programmes and their respective budgets are currently run separately, Youth Services, Children and Families Branch, and the Early Education and Childcare Unit have worked together throughout the year to review individual grants, assess new grant applications, address any duplicate funding for the same projects, and merge the recommendation process. Details are given in this report and its Appendices.

1.3 The report also seeks to standardise approval for grants to voluntary organisations of up to £5,000 by delegating responsibility to officers within the Youth Service. Currently the Early Education and Childcare Unit and the Children and Families Branch have delegated responsibility for the approval of grants of up to £5,000. Due to the restructuring of the Children and Families Branch and the changes to the governance of the Youth Service, it is an appropriate time to align these arrangements across the branches and to delegate approval for grants associated with youth work including annual revenue grants, project development grants, and youth opportunity fund to a maximum delegation of £5,000. The Youth Service grants are listed (Appendix 1) and Early Education and Child Care (Appendix 2). Appendix 3 lists the eligibility criteria that apply to all grants (up to and above £5,000) and all Branches. A list of all grants will be available from the corporate grants database.

1.4 Grants to voluntary organisations listed in this report will enable these organisations to continue with or expand their services and projects to work towards the first two priorities of Hampshire County Council and towards all the five outcomes of Every Child Matters.

2 Recommendation

2.1 It is recommended that the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services approves grant applications for 2007/08 totalling £751,748 received by the Youth Services (£151,050), Children and Families Branch (£88,627), and the Early Education and Childcare Unit (£512,071).

2.2 It is recommended that delegated power to the Director of Children's Services for responsible officers within the Children and Families Branch (Social Care), Early Education and Child Care Unit to approve grants to voluntary organisations up to £5,000 in accordance with The Constitution - Part 2 (Responsibility for Functions) Section 4 - Chief Officers' Delegated Authority be extended by the Executive Lead Member to the Youth Service.

3 Background

3.1 Children's Services has a variety of grant programmes which are managed by different branches within the Department according to the principles of the One Compact. These programmes are advertised on the corporate grant website. Voluntary organisations are informed of the programmes through the website, through their local Community and Voluntary Services organisations or through invitations to apply.

3.2 All grant applicants have to provide evidence that they contribute towards the five outcomes of the Children Act, Hampshire's Children and Young People Plan (CYPP), Children's Services function and improvement plans and the aims and priorities of the Local Area Agreement.

3.3 Many services and projects from voluntary sector organisations are relevant to several branches within the Children's Services Department. Where this was the case for applications that cross Youth Services, Children and Families Branch, and the Early Education and Childcare Unit, the organisations were directed to the most suitable branch who took the lead for consideration of the application and liaised closely with the other branches in order to reach a recommendation. This led to a coordinated approach and has ensured that no double-funding occurred.

3.4 In fact, due to the historically low number of Children and Families Branch grants above £5,000 plus the links that larger grant applications had with Youth and Early Education and Childcare functions, it was decided to re-direct organisations to apply to either Youth Services or the Early Education and Childcare Unit, as appropriate. Information about these grants can be found in Appendix 1, giving details of grant applications received by Youth Services and Appendix 2, giving details of grant applications received by the Early Education and Childcare Unit.

3.5 Where relevant, inflation has been considered for grants in line with County Council's budget for inflation and 2.5% inflation is recommended.

3.6 The issues and options considered within each grant programme and for each application and recommendation are given in the Appendices 1, 2, and 3.

4 Strategic Implications

4.1 Grants to voluntary organisations support Hampshire County Council's priority of "Making Hampshire safer and more secure for all" by funding organisations that provide positive activities for children and young people. They also support the priority of "Maximising well-being" by funding organisations which deliver services to children and young people, or are run by children and young people. In addition, the grant programmes contribute towards the Every Child Matters outcomes by encouraging young people to stay safe, be healthy, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well being.

4.2 The applications in this report have been managed in accordance with the principles of the One Compact for Hampshire, thereby working towards the outcome of the CYPP: "maximising the use of financial and human resources". The Children's Services department will be working with partners of the CYPP and in accordance with the aims and priorities of the Local Area Agreement to ensure that the grants allocations in the future are managed through the strategic commissioning role of the CYPP.

5 Grant applications

*jointly funded by the branches. For further details, please see Appendices.

** services commissioned by contract rather than grant, please see Appendix 2.

6 Consultation

6.1 A task group met during 2006 to review the Children's Services grant programmes process. This provided representatives from the voluntary sector with an opportunity to raise their concerns regarding current commissioning processes. As a result, Youth Services, the Early Education and Childcare Unit and Children and Families Branch have worked together to provide a more streamlined approach to managing grant applications from voluntary organisations. Further meetings are planned during 2007/08 to develop a policy and procedures for making financial awards through grants up to and above £5,000 to the voluntary and community sector which match the priorities of the Children's Services department.

6.2 Grants managed by the early Education and Childcare Unit are matched against function priorities that were derived through consultation with private, voluntary and independent partners.

7 Legal implications

7.1 Whilst all voluntary organisations in receipt of grant funding receive a grant agreement specifying the terms and conditions of funding, these are not legally binding.

8 Financial implications

8.1 Referenced in section 3 of this report. It is confirmed that the grants allocation proposals for the Youth Service and Children and Families meet with the budget targets set for 2007/08 ( a saving requirement of £20,000 from the grants to youth organisations 2007/08 allocation) and as agreed by the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services in the Children's Services Revenue Budget Report 2007/08, 08/09 and 2009/10.

9 Personnel implications

9.1 No personnel implications have been identified for County Council staff. However, the recommendations may lead to a greater security in funding within the voluntary sector and may lead to increased employment.

10 Impact assessment

10.1 The One Compact for Hampshire has social inclusion as one of its principles and states that all partners are committed to the importance of promoting equality of opportunity for all people, regardless of race, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation and belief. Additionally, equal opportunity and race relation policies have been sought from voluntary organisations.

11 Crime prevention issues

11.1 It has been demonstrated that good youth work reduces the likelihood of some young people being involved in crime. These recommendations will lead to improving partnerships between those involved in youth work by supporting a range of positive opportunities for young people.

12 Views of the Local County Councillor

12.1 This report will be circulated to Members by Democratic Services and subsequent comments will be incorporated.

13 Conclusion

13.1 Ongoing work with the voluntary organisations listed in this report indicates that the services provided by them seek to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families. They also significantly contribute to the Children and Young Peoples Plan. As such, this report requests the approval of Executive Lead member for Children's Services for funding.

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.

1. Grant applications from organisations

2. Monitoring information for on-going grants

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

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

Appendix 1

Hampshire County Youth Service -Annual revenue grants to youth organisations 07/08

Contact Pete Marsh, 01962 846805, [email protected]

1 Summary

This appendix provides details of the revenue grants to voluntary youth organisations, totalling £181,677 to organisations who have made applications to this budget.

The appendix also provides detail of the youth opportunity fund grant to young people and youth organisation, totalling £6,000 on this occasion from the Youth Opportunity Fund.

2 Budget 2007/08

The grants budget available to support voluntary organisations working with 13 - 19 year olds in 2007/08 is £195,600,

The budget is allocated as follows:

*In the Executive Member for Children's Services, Children's Services Revenue Budget 2007/08, 08/09 and 2009/10 report states that a saving was required of £20,000 from the grants to youth organisations 2007/08 allocation.

3 Services for Youth Service

3.1 Havant Youth Sail Training Scheme

A grant of £8,000 is recommended. The Havant Youth Sail Training Scheme is the only dinghy sailing club in Hampshire exclusively for young people. All members receive accreditation through the RYA as they increase their skills by following the RYA syllabus.

The grant will provide deep water moorings which allow full use of tides with greater flexibility for sailing times and to provide marina berths for safety craft. This will enable the scheme to provide a full programme of sailing activities for both individual young people and youth groups in Hampshire.

3.2 Hampshire North Girlguiding

A grant of £3,000 is recommended. The funding will enable the young women to take part in two interesting and stretching activities, Guiding star (developing musical talents) and Dragon Boating. Both will develop skills and develop confidence. Girlguiding Hampshire North offers girls and young women exciting and challenging opportunities.

3.3 The Girls Brigade - Solent District

A grant of £450 is recommended. The grant will go towards continued improvement in the efficiency of the administrative structure. To continue working with other organisations such as Sure Start and Connexions, to expand the work within Companies, to provide opportunities for service and meeting other Girls Brigade members, to visit companies to monitor the standard of delivery of the weekly programme and supporting the leaders.

3.4 The Girls Brigade - Hampshire West District

A Grant of £450 is recommended. Girls Brigade Hampshire West district has a programme of activities for girls and young women. The programme is entitled SPES - the Latin word for hope; Spiritual; Physical; Educational; Service.

Each company has a cohort of young leaders (aged 15 plus) who take an active role in developing and delivering the SPES programme. They receive training and support to give them the confidence and information to carry out this role.

3.5 Hampshire County Scout Council

A grant of £5,000 is recommended. Hampshire Scouting promotes the development of young people helping them to achieve their full potential as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their communities.

Hampshire Scouting has a five year development plan which includes extensive involvement of young people in decision making. The funding will be used in the development of the scouting network and to support the promotion of those working towards National Governing Body awards in adventurous activities.

3.6 Hampshire Council for Voluntary Youth Services

A grant of £17,000 is recommended (£10,000 from Youth Services, £7,000 from the Early Education and Childcare Unit). HCVYS Hampshire Council of Voluntary Youth Service is an umbrella organisation for 35 organisations working with young people from the ages of 5 - 25 and represents this wide range of members on a range of Hampshire County Council groups and committees. HCVYS is an influential member of the voluntary sector alliance which has brought together a number of voluntary sector networks. This coming together of the sector helps Hampshire County Council to involve and engage with the sector who have two lead priorities in the Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP) those being the 'increasing access to volunteering opportunities' and the positive promotion in the media of young people. HCVYS has historically been funded only by the youth service, but the broader role and function that is now being undertaken requires resourcing from Children's Services Department.

3.7 Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth

A grant of £3,000 is recommended. The grant will be used to facilitate a youth forum to participate and engage fully in the work and direction of the diocese. To provide resourses for a series of interactive training workshops for young people aimed at equipping new methods and styles of worship and to extend volunteer youth leader provision by delivering a modular competency based training programme.

3.8 Speakeasy Advocacy

A grant of £4,000 is recommended. The Speakeasy Advocacy has been in existence since 2002. it largely supports parents and carers of young people with learning disabilities in Basingstoke. The funding will support young people with autism and Asperger's syndrome in Hampshire. The advocate will support the running of "Internet Explorers", a self advocacy group for 11-16 year olds. Provide 1:1 advocacy support on issues like getting a diagnosis, an educational statement or accessing health or other support services, and to young people in transition.

3.9 Hampshire and IOW Youth Options

A grant of £15,000 is recommended. Youth Options provides a range for opportunities for young people and receives specific funding for a number of significant projects.

The grant will allow Hampshire Youth Options to continue to employ a full time club support worker, YST co-ordinator and additional part time worker(s) who will work on a wide range of programmes to young people.

3.10 Youth Clubs Hampshire and IOW

A grant of £20,000 is recommended. The grant will be spent exclusively in Hampshire delivering work with the 13-19 age range. The grant will be used to support the objectives of YCHIOW'S strategic development plan 2005 - 2008, which identifies two key areas of work, support for member organisations and directly with young people. The money will be allocated specifically to those aspects of work, which address the criteria of HCYS, including participation, issue based work, standards and the recognition of young people's learning.

3.11 Hampshire Federation of Young Farmers.

A grant of £12,000 is recommended. The grant will continue to fund and maintain the county administrator role for the support and development of the Federation. Enabling the organisation to link to clubs, encouraging educational and recreational programmes. To administer Policy Statements and Guidelines and to support Clubs at local level. Hampshire Federation of Young Farmer's Clubs supports young people throughout the County and develops opportunities planned and developed by young people.

3.12 Girlguiding Hampshire East

A grant of £1,500 is recommended. The grant will be used to support events, training and resources for the Guides and Senior Section members in the 13-19 age range. For Baden Powell challenge weekends for guides, guide and senior section participation in County and region events. For and the launch of the new national programme for the senior section, and training for guiders on the new programme.

3.13 Young people's information (YPI)

A grant of £2,500 is recommended. YPI has been in operation since 2003, initially providing Advice, Information and Counselling to young people aged 11 - 25. From 2005, with the introduction of the Connexions Service, YPI focused on the Counselling aspect of the service, operation from the Connexions AIG service in Basingstoke. YPI's existing funding is from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire PCT. Funding from Hampshire County Council will secure the existing level of counselling, by going towards the salary and expenses of the counsellors.

3.14 Bishops green youth project

A grant of £5,700 is recommended. The grant will enable the continued support to the project based at Bishops Green. The work is focused on engaging young people in local decision making and consultation work regarding the planned regeneration/rebuilding of the Sentinel Housing estate at Bishops Green.

Bishops Green is acknowledged as an area of priority by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, with young people seen as at risk of social exclusion. The Bishops Green youth project is a valued and valuable resource for the young people in the community.

3.15 Solent Youth Action, SLAMS youth club

A grant of £4,500 is recommended. The grant will be used to continue support a team of 15 young volunteers in the successful running of SLAMS youth club in Eastleigh Town Centre.

SLAMS provides the opportunity for teenagers with special needs to develop socially and educationally through participation in a wide range of activities that are jointly selected by themselves and the volunteers.

Solent Youth Action provides a successful youth project enabling young people with special needs and able young people to learn new skills and grow in confidence.

3.16 Off the record

A total grant of £18,091 is recommended (£14,091 - Children & Families, £4,000 - Youth Service). The grant would be used to help provide, crisis and on-going one to one counselling, assist young people to experience personal growth and self-development and enable referrals to other agencies for sexual health and homelessness issues. Off the record offer group work programmes within schools focussing on the particular needs/issues identified by young people. The young people are fully involved in developing these programmes.

Off the Record supported over 500 young people from Leigh Park last year and is the only youth counselling service in Havant. They provide a high quality service and are well respected by a range of agencies.

3.17 Rkdia - Drum Housing Association.

A grant of £5,000 is recommended. Rkdia provides a central facility where youth services can operate reaching the parishes of Horndean, Clanfield and Rowlands Castle.

The grant is to ensure co-ordination of a holistic approach to the development of 10 - 25 year olds, including health, recreation, safety, guidance, economic well being and concentrated support where necessary ensuring that those involved make positive contributions.

3.18 The Highland Road Youth Project

A grant of £6,750 is recommended. The highlands youth project is being organised as a result of the Highlands area being designated a JAG (Joint action group). The aim of the project is to provide a safe place for young people to meet in an organised fashion. To reduce the amount of young people presently meeting on the streets in the Highlands area causing a nuisance or disturbance. The funding will be used to get the project started, for example, carpets, flooring, soft chairs, tables and some sporting equipment and games.

3.19 Kids, Southdowns Thursday Club

A grant of £3,600 is recommended. KIDS has developed the Southdowns Thursday Club to support young people with learning and physical difficulties who are attending Southdown College. It enables young people to enjoy opportunities to access appropriate activities and enable them to have a safe environment to explore issues, express their thoughts/feelings and have a stronger input within the college, to ensure their voices are heard. Funding will enable the group to continue to meet weekly during college term time allowing us to offer new and challenging opportunities.

3.20 Partnership for Active Leisure scheme (PALS).

A grant of £4,000 is recommended. The funding will be used to provide a varied programme of out of school activities suitable for young people with a physical disability. Activities will take place during the school day, evenings, weekends and school holidays. Staff and trained volunteers will assist the young people as necessary to take a full and active part in the activities. This application covers Havant, East Hants, Fareham and Gosport. They have a young peoples forum that takes a lead role in planning, developing and monitoring the activity programmes. Many of the young people who volunteer are between the ages of 16 - 19 years. It also offers volunteering opportunities to other young people to support their peers in accessing different activities.

3.21 Step by Step (formally Emmaus Project).

A grant of £5,000 is recommended. Emmaus Projects continue to provide essential services and projects across the Rushmoor district, working in partnership with the youth service and other youth providers. Support for young people within the district is very much enhanced by the projects and facilities offered by Emmaus Projects. The grant will enable them to support clients in accessing employment and developing basic skills to help them fulfil their potential and achieve some of the most significant steps towards independence.

3.22 The Source Youth Charity

A grant of £5,000 is recommended. The aim for the Source is, the place to be, belong and become in Aldershot for Young People. For The Source Café to remain successful, they need to have the young people at the heart of the project, running it as well as benefiting from it.

The grant will go towards the general running costs of the Source project, activities, recruiting and training volunteers, administration, maintenance, salaries.

The Source Café supports a range of activities including, mentoring, anger management courses and a football team. It also plays an active role in supporting the implementation of multi-agency initiatives.

3.23 Winchester & District Young Carers Project

A grant of £1,000 is recommended. Winchester and District Young Carers project is a well run firmly established project that delivers a much needed specialist service. Providing support tailored to young carers individual needs is a core element of their work, the five Every Child Matters outcomes inform the work during the weekly meeting sessions where young carers can meet others in the same situation to gain mutual support. The funding will go towards the costs of running the weekly clubs and some workshops during the school holidays.

3.24 Winchester and District SNAPS

A grant of £1,000 is recommended. SNAPS was set up in 1993 to offer a choice of services to meet the range of needs that children and young people with disabilities experience. Activities are appropriate to age and ability, and offer inclusion into the local community resources wherever possible. Working in partnership with other agencies helps SNAPS to ensure best use of resources and skills so that best value can be achieved. The funding will go towards the costs of running the weekly club for young people with special needs and some workshops during the school holidays.

3.25 The Carroll Youth Centre

A grant of £1,000 is recommended. To develop the good youth work practice that has directly involved young people in organising and planning such events as `Party in the Park'. The grant will also support the delivery of the business plan target, which is to review and revise the young people's organising group to help create and plan new opportunities and to be advocates on behalf of other young people.

3.26 Winchester Youth Counselling

A grant of £1,800 is recommended. The grant would go towards the running costs of the project, for accommodation, office expenses and staff training. This helps to provide open ended counselling to young people aged 11 - 25 years.

Winchester youth counselling provides free long term counselling for young people, a service not available elsewhere in Winchester. They work with and support vulnerable young people and the project is developing a reputation for delivering a quality service.

3.27 Winchester Detached Youth Work Project (Street Reach).

A grant of £1,800 is recommended. The Winchester Detached Youth Work Project has expanded the scope of its work in the last year and offers opportunities in a number of communities across Winchester. Street Reach completed a good piece of consultation work last year and as a result changed their name from Winchester Detached Youth Work Project to Streetreach. The funding will be used for core work such as developing the involvement of young people, strengthening infrastructure for better consistency and working in partnership with the youth team on Friday nights in the City Centre, at dance nights and Winfest.

3.28 Relate - The Hampshire Relate Group

A grant of £9,536 is recommended. Relate services for young people (Relateen/Utalk) provide one to one support, in a safe and secure environment, for young people at the time of family conflict. There is high demand for the service in Aldershot, Alton, Basingstoke and Winchester. The funding will pay for an experienced counsellor for 750 sessions (50% of costs).

4 Youth Opportunity Fund

4.1 Havant youth sail training scheme (HYSTS)

A grant of £6,000 is recommended. HYSTS has one senior instructor available to conduct/lead both on and off the water activities. The funding will help secure a small team of RYA Accredited Senior instructors who will then train junior instructors to senior level, supporting their future development and increase skill levels in RYA accreditation.

Appendix 2

Early Education and Childcare Unit grant programme

Contact: Tracey Sanders, 01962 813872, [email protected]

5 Summary

5.1 This report recommends specific grant allocations for 2007-2008 to voluntary organisations providing services within the early years, childcare and family support sectors. These voluntary organisations work in partnership with the Early Education and Childcare Unit, and through the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership, to support the aims and objectives of the Early Education and Childcare Unit's Strategic Plan for 2006-2008.

5.2 Grants totalling £570,071 for eight voluntary organisations and one project from a district council are recommended for approval in addition to funding for contracts with two voluntary organisations.

6 Background

6.1 The Early Education and Childcare Unit manages the budget for grants to voluntary organisations for early years and childcare. Some of these funds are also used to support parenting services.

6.2 As part of the management process all applicants have to provide evidence that they have contributed towards the priorities of Hampshire County Council, the outcomes of Every Child Matters and the priorities of the Early Education and Childcare Unit's Strategic Plan 06-08. They also have to prove that they have a clear management structure and accountability and sustainability built into their business plans.

6.3 Each voluntary organisation is issued with a grant agreements with clear service specification, a schedule of quarterly reporting, robust monitoring and a system for remedial action should targets not be met. Monitoring arrangements include mechanisms to identify how the voluntary organisations contribute to outcomes for children. Such investment in key services within the voluntary sector is seen to be in line with the principles of best value, the Children Act and the Childcare Act.

6.4 The grant allocations for 2007-08 are less than allocations requested in 2006-07, because the services delivered by the Pre-school Learning Alliance and the National Childminding Association (who have in the past been funded through grants) will now be issued with single tender contracts. This report notes that amounts will need to be transferred from the grant budget to the contracts budget to pay partly for the contracts that are mentioned in this report and this Appendix together with information on the services delivered through the contracts.

6.5 The budget will be:

7 Grant recommendations, Services for Early Years and childcare

7.1 East Hampshire District Council, the rural area play project

A grant of £11,000 is recommended. East Hampshire District Council's "rural area play project", RAPP, offers playwork for children aged 4 - 11 and 11 - 16 years. It is a mobile service, using rented vehicles to take play and leisure activities out to rural villages. These activities take place in village halls or local schools. This service was recently successful in receiving a national Partners in Excellence award.

The District Council received start-up funding for this project in 2006-07 from a projected underspend in the General Sure Start Grant budget. Due to its success and the continued need for the project, it has been decided to assess and receive approval for the project via the grants procedure. No application from a voluntary organisation for a similar service or project in the area has been received. The District Council will contribute £6,000 to this project.

In particular, the grant will provide:

· Play and leisure activities through one van, two sessions on 50 days, with 20 child places and an estimated 5 parent/carer places.

7.2 Eastleigh Community Services, Special Needs Playscheme

A grant of £2,000 has been approved. The Special Needs Playscheme offers play opportunities for children with special needs from the ages 5 - 16. It is currently used by over 30 families. It offers an opportunity for the children to develop new skills and gain confidence, while it offers respite to the parents and carers. The Playscheme has been in operation for 12 years and has a waiting list.

In particular, the grant will provide:

· Extra outings (on 27 days) for the children i.e., swimming, horse riding, farm visits

· Any unused funds from the grant will be used for toys, books, and stationary.

7.3 The Elizabeth Foundation

A grant of £54,481 is recommended. The Elizabeth Foundation offers support to the needs of babies and children (of pre-school age 0-5) who are deaf or have a hearing impairment, their parents, carers and families. It provides a parent counselling service, practical help in a Demonstration Home Unit, Early Education and Childcare for children 0-5 years old, parental advice, guidance and support, and an early detection of deafness centre.

The purpose of this grant is to support the needs of babies and children in the county of Hampshire (of pre-school age 0-5) who are deaf or have a hearing impairment, and their parents, carers and families who have chosen to develop oral/aural language and communication skills which will help to maximise the child's future life choices and inclusion into mainstream education. In the autumn term 2006, 13 children from the County of Hampshire and their families received support from the Foundation (excluding those supported by distance learning).

In particular, the grant will contribute towards the provision of:

· an early intervention service for children and their parents. This will include:

- activities for babies, toddlers, and pre-school children

- parents counselling service

- parents support group

· One specialist teacher of the deaf employed by the Foundation.

7.4 Forest Bus

A grant of £27,500 is recommended (£25,000 from the Early Education and Childcare Unit and £2,500 from Youth Services). The Forest Bus (New Forest & Romsey Mobile Community Project) delivers Early Years work and offers playwork and family learning opportunities in hard to reach isolated areas, with a focus on traveller families. It also offers valuable leisure opportunities to young people in the rural communities, where other provision is scant. The aim of these services is to enable participation in activities that increase self esteem, awareness, confidence and a sense of personal development for young people and learning through play and developing skills for younger children.

The grant will pay for salaries of playworkers, outreach and development workers, their training, proportionally for the costs of the Forest Bus lorry and bus, service related costs, and overhead costs.

In particular, the grant will pay for the Forest Bus to:

· Deliver Early Years and playwork in hard to reach areas

· Deliver youth work in areas of the New Forest, Waterside and Romsey.

· Act as a catalyst for the creation of new early education and childcare provision following assessment of need in partnership with the local development team

· Provide information and advice for hard to reach families including travellers and those living in isolation

· Support family learning initiatives

7.5 Gosport Development Trust, Stay & Play Mobile Crèche

A grant of £5,000 has been approved. The Stay & Play Mobile Crèche caters for children aged 0 - 12 and works primarily in areas of social and economic disadvantage. The crèche allows the children to learn and develop new skills in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. It enables parents and cares to take up education, training, leisure and community activities.

In particular, the grant will allow the service to expand into new areas through paying for marketing materials, up-grading existing equipment and general running costs.

7.6 Gosport Youth Leaders

A grant of £11,000 is recommended. Gosport Youth Leaders places volunteers, aged 16 to 25, as young sports leaders in early years settings to provide better quality physical development opportunities for pre-school children and training for the volunteers. The project was initially partly funded through the recruitment budget of the Early Education and Childcare Unit. Due to its success, the project now wishes to expand in scope and area.

In particular, the grant will fund the training and placement of 10 young sports leaders, benefiting approximately 300 children in Early Years settings.

7.7 Kids, education and early support for children under the age of 5

A grant of £50,400 is recommended. Kids South East offer education and early support for children under the age of 5 in their Fareham centre. The grant enables the development of high quality inclusive nursery provision for children with a wide range of additional needs and to assist in providing information, training and support to those caring for and working with these children. The nursery provision is Ofsted registered and the latest Ofsted report has judged all areas of provision as outstanding. 95% of the children supported through the service are enabled to successfully access mainstream provision at school-entry due to early intervention and identification of their support needs. Kids works in partnership with parents and parents are involved in the setting of targets for the child.

It is recognised that such a good quality provision for children with special needs requires grant funding to support its work. A higher increase is recommended for 2007-08 to enable Kids to recover quicker from its current financial crisis. Kids continues to endeavour to raise extra income for these services from other sources. The service is also funded through a contract from the Children and Families Branch until March 2008. It is expected that the funding will then be combined to either grant or contract funding.

In particular, the grant will fund Kids to :

· provide inclusive nursery and developmental play places for approximately 40 children on a part time basis

· seek to enable children with disabilities to develop their skills and abilities and fulfil their potential hopes and aspiration

· provide high quality inclusive educational opportunities within the framework of a broad balanced curriculum to benefit children with a diverse range of needs

· demonstrate that assessment procedures are consistent with the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice

· provide training opportunities for staff and volunteers ensuring the highest possible levels of professionalism are maintained.

7.8 Pevensey and Westham Club Rural Outreach Project

A grant of £95,000 is recommended. The Pevensey and Westham Club Rural Outreach Project will take playwork training to Out of School day care settings. Since April 2005, 21% of settings registered for Out of School day care closed. Additionally, Ofsted inspections revealed that, compared to the national average, providers of Out of School day care have a higher number of inadequate gradings (10.2% against 6.8%).

The Project will visit Out of School settings, reach "hard to reach" parts of Hampshire, raise the profile of play in Out of School day care settings, support access to Playwork training, improve the quality of provision and thereby enhance the children's lives.

In particular, the grant will enable the Pevensey and Westham Club Rural Outreach Project to:

· Visit about 350 Out of School day care settings in Hampshire

· Observe settings, evaluate them against agreed criteria and give 30 minutes of feedback

· Make Playwork resources (books, journals) available

· If possible, deliver small training workshops to staff or deliver demonstration play-sessions.

7.9 Solent Youth Action, `Buddies', mentoring project for children

A grant of £8,360 is recommended. `Buddies' is a volunteering scheme whereby young people support primary-school aged children who have additional needs, to enable these children to enjoy equal access to out-of-school activities. Without this support, the children would be unable to attend. The volunteer works with them at their chosen activity and thereby helps them to participate and interact with peers. The aim of the scheme is to develop the child's independence.

In particular, this grant will pay for promotional material, training and travel expenses for young volunteers. It will also cover travel expenses for co-ordinators to visit prospective children and risk assess out-of-school activities.

8 Grant recommendations, parenting services

Hampshire's Children and Young People's Plan had as its aim the joint planning and commissioning of parent education, development and support in Hampshire from April 2007. As an interim measure, the Early Education and Childcare Unit together with Children and Families Branch has processed grant applications from parenting services. These services will be funded from the Early Education and Childcare Unit's grant budget and the Children and Families budget for commissioned parenting services. It is expected that joint commissioning will take place from April 2008 onwards.

8.1 Hampshire Children and Families Forum

A grant of £181,560 is recommended. The grant will enable Hampshire Children and Families Forum to represent the views of Hampshire Children and Families and those that provide for them at all levels of Local Government.

Hampshire Children and Families Forum works in partnership with the Early Education and Childcare Unit to support the priorities of the Unit. The work the Forum will undertake in 2007-08 will be around supporting Children's Centres, information to parents, representation of parents views, especially on the sufficiency of childcare provision. The Forum enables the exchange of information between professionals at their branch meetings, which are attended by Early Education and Childcare Unit staff, too.

In particular, the grant will pay for:

· Representation of parents views and consultations with parents about the provision of childcare services

· Provision of local information to parents through a newsletter

· Support to Children's Centre managers, support with the link to professionals in the area and the local community.

8.2 Home-Start schemes in Hampshire

A grant of £122,500 is recommended (£65,000 from Children and Families Branch and £57,500 from the Early Education and Childcare Unit). Home-Start schemes in Hampshire support hard to reach families who experience difficulties and who have at least one child under the age of 5. Support and help is provided by a volunteer who visits the family on a regular basis. Through this support and practical help and regular monitoring by paid staff, Home-Start aims to prevent family crises and breakdown.

Home-Start schemes were previously funded through contracts (block and spot purchase) from the Children and Families Branch. Due to the increased role of Home-Start in respect with Children's Centres and Early Years, it was decided that Home-Start apply for grant funding via the grant programme of the Early Education and Childcare Unit. The Children and Families Branch and the Early Education and Childcare Unit have agreed with the Home-Start schemes that they make one application for all schemes in Hampshire to the Early Education and Childcare Unit. This is in line with the Strategy for Supporting Parents' objective to provide equity and consistency of service provision across Hampshire.

In particular, the grant will allow the Home-start schemes in Hampshire to:

· Provide preventative services to families in Hampshire

· To recruit and train 100 volunteers to Open College Network accredited standard to sustain and expand the current teams (300 total)

· Work with approximately 750 families and 1750 children over the year

· Accept referrals from local professionals and self referrals

· Extend the services to areas of Hampshire where Home-Start is not present, i.e. Andover, Basingstoke and the New Forest.

8.3 Relate Basingstoke & District, Family Counselling Project

A grant of £3,500 has been approved. Relate Basingstoke & District started counselling families in 2004. Demand has increased in particular from families with young children. The work is largely preventative.

In particular, the grant will pay for the training of one new counsellor who, once trained, will provide a minimum of 120 hours with families in the first year, involving approximately 20 families with 40 children.

9 Single tender contracts

The National Childminding Association and the Pre-school Learning Alliance had received grants from Hampshire County Council for over 25 years. To allow a transitional period, enable continuity of work within the Early Years Education and Childcare 06-08 strategic plan, and maintain the confidence of providers at a time when there are many national changes in the delivery of early years education and childcare provision, a single tender approach was approved on 21 July 2006. This has enabled issues that arise during the transitional period from working through a grant arrangement to a more formal contractual arrangement to be resolved with these two organisations. These contracts and the amount paid for them out of the voluntary organisation budget are mentioned in this report for reasons of transparency.

9.1 National Childminding Association

The National Childminding Association supports Hampshire's childminders. Through the contract, the organisation will be able to support all registered childminders, help new childminders become established, improve the quality of childminding and the raise qualification levels of childminders thereby improving the quality of provision. They work in partnership with the Early Education and Childcare Unit and their staff are members of the five Local Development Teams.

9.2 Pre-school Learning Alliance

The Pre-school Learning Alliance supports Hampshire's pre-schools, nurseries, and parent and toddler groups. Through the contract, the organisation will be able to support registered settings and new settings in becoming registered. The will support the settings in business and management decisions, thereby improving the quality of the settings and quality of provision. The Pre-school Learning Alliance works in partnership with the Early Education and Childcare Unit and their senior pre-school development workers are members of the five Local Development Teams.

Appendix 3

Eligibility criteria of Children's Services' grant programmes

Contact: Anne Odling, 01962 847756, [email protected]

Pete Marsh, 01962 846805, [email protected]

Tracey Sanders, 01962 813872, [email protected]

1 Eligibility criteria, Children's Services

1.1 The three grant giving Branches of Children's Services share the following eligibility criteria:

· The project or services benefit children and young people living in the County of Hampshire

· The grant recipient is a not-for-profit organisation

· The grant recipient finds other funders for the project or service

· The project or services fall within the aims and objectives, policies and priorities of the respective Branch.

1.2 The eligibility criteria for Youth Services' annual grants are:

· work with young people in Hampshire County Council area

· work with young people, at least 50% of whom are in the 13-19 year age range. The other 50% to be within the whole age range, 11-25 years

· use the grant to fund work with the 13-19 year age range only

· demonstrate how their organisation or project meets the priorities, aims and objectives of the County Youth Service and Connexions Service, including having policy statements and guidelines in place for Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety, Child Protection and Quality Assurance

· seek no more than 50% of the required funding as grant aid from Hampshire County Council

· apply for funding from other sources such as district and borough councils, business or other sponsorship

· be a 'not-for-profit' organisation or project.

1.3 The eligibility criteria for grants from the Early Education and Childcare Unit are:

· The services, projects or activities of the organisation are in compliance with the aims and objectives, priorities and policies of the Early Education and Childcare Unit, the Children's Services Department and Hampshire County Council

· The services, projects or activities benefit people living in the County of Hampshire

· The proposal is presented in the standardised form required by the Early Education & Childcare Unit

· The organisation has a clear management structure within its constitution and accountability built into its business plan

· Have policy statements and guidelines in place  where applicable for Child Protection, Equal Opportunities, Health  and Safety, and Quality Assurance

· Ensure all staff in contact with children and young people both paid and voluntary have an up to date Criminal Records Bureau clearance

· Have applied for funding from other sources such as trusts, district/borough councils, businesses or other sponsorship or contribute to the costs in kind

· Be able to proof that their project is financially sustainable

· Present an annual independently audited or examined statement of accounts and, where required, a report on the use of funding during the previous financial year before full payment is made

· Comply with appropriate quality assurance and review procedures as agreed with the Early Education and Childcare Unit.

1.4 The eligibility criteria for grants from the Children and Families' Branch are:

· The services, projects or activities of the organisation are in compliance with the aims and objectives, priorities and policies of the Children's Services Department and Hampshire County Council

· The services, projects or activities benefit people living in the County of Hampshire

· The organisation has a clear management structure within its constitution

· Benefit children, young people and their families and carers in the Hampshire County Council area

· Demonstrate how their work meets the outcomes of the Children's Act 2004 and the priorities, aims and objectives of the Children's Services Department

· Have policy statements and guidelines in place for Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety, Child Protection and Quality Assurance (where applicable).

· Ensure all staff in contact with children and young people both paid and voluntary have an up to date Criminal Records Bureau clearance

· Apply for funding from other sources such as trusts, district/borough councils, businesses or other sponsorship or contribute to the costs in kind

· Comply with mutually agreed reporting and monitoring requirements.