Agenda item

(Report by S Hohler, Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education  and Mrs R Turner, Managing Director of Children, Families & Education Directorate)           

(Mrs A Gamby, Head of Early Years and Childcare (Operations) and Mrs R Tickle, Children’s Centre Project Officer were present for this item)

(1)         The Committee received a report regarding the Review of Children’s Centres, with a particular focus on Round Three.

(2)         The Chairman welcomed Mrs Gamby and Mrs Tickle to the meeting and asked Mrs Gamby to introduce the report.

(3)         Mrs Gamby explained that the Children’s Centres agenda was a major national initiative.  The Children’s Centres role was about the leadership and management of a range of services for children and their families in an area in a joined up way. A Children’s Centre was not a nursery although a nursery may be a provision at the Centre. The government’s aim was for 3500 Children’s Centres nationally by 2012.  What this meant for Kent was that originally there would be 102 Children’s Centres, which would be delivered in three rounds; Round 1 had 20 Centres (2004-2006) and Round 2 had an additional 52 Centres (2006-2008) and in Round 3 up to 30 Centres.  There was a need for Round 3 to connect and join up with Rounds 1 and 2 for universal coverage.  Cabinet agreed to a review of the Children’s Centres to ensure that in the current economic climate that the capital portfolio was the best that it could be to deliver universal children’s services.  The revenue funding for Children’s Centres came through a grant and at present there was no confirmation of what that grant would be after 2011.  The aim of the review was to; minimise the number of new builds, maximise the number of centres delivering existing facilities, further explore whether some centres might deliver and manage through contractual arrangements with voluntary or private organisations and identify whether there was potential to provide universal coverage for the children and families of Kent with fewer Centres than the potential 30 in Round 3 and fewer than the original 102 Children Centres.

(4)         Mrs Gamby then spoke on the two tabled papers headed ‘Revised Round Three Proposals 11/09’, which highlighted that following the review there could potentially be 25 Children Centres instead of 30 in Round 3 and therefore county wide 97 Children’s Centres in total instead of 102, and ‘Children’s Centres Capital Funding and Predicted Spend’, which provided the predicted sending on Rounds 2 and 3 and the infrastructure and signage around all three rounds.  This gave a predicted spend with the revised proposals of £30,708,986 with a balance of £3,824,950 to be reinvested. 

(5)         Members of the Committee were given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments which included the following:

(6)               In response to questions by Mr Pugh on Rounds 1 and 2, Mrs Gamby advised that KCC was the accountable body for all Children’s Centres, most were delivered in house through a KCC Children’s Centre Manager, a few were delivered on a service level agreements to different organisations such as Seashells, but it remained KCC’s responsibility.  Mrs Tickle explained that there were sites identified for Queenborough and Rushenden and Leysdown and Warden but both were involved in complex land swap negotiations with Swale Borough Council, which was in the hands of KCC’s legal team.  For Queenborough and Rushenden the land swap was imminent and for Leysdown and Warden there had to be an archaeological dig commissioned on adjacent land, once that had been concluded the necessary documents could be signed and swapped.

(7)               In reply to questions by Mr Chittenden, Mrs Gamby advised that the Children’s Centres were revenue funded entirely through the Sure Start Grant. The Children’s Centres Review had slowed down the Round 3 programme, although, it still had to deliver designation by the end of March 2010 and a full core offer by 2012. The freed up revenue funding had not had to be called on.  In answer to the send question, Mrs Gamby said that part of the work of the Children’s Centres included an annual cycle of self evaluation against a series of indicators, which were reported up to Cabinet and the government.

(8)               Members congratulated Mrs Gamby and her team for all their work and requested a progress report on Children’s Centres in a year.

(9)               RESOLVED that:-

(a)                     the Members comments  and the request for a progress report in one year be noted; and

(b)          the recommendations arising from the Children’s Centres Review be noted.