Decision details

This proposed decision was considered by the Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee on 5 December 2017 and will be discussed further on Thursday 18 January 2018.  Based on comments received the Cabinet Member and officers have further considered the proposals and made amendments to reflect those comments.  In order that the governance processes and consultation are as robust and transparent as possible it has been agreed that the decision will now be split in to two.

17/00121(a) – To bring three of the six currently commissioned Children’s Centres (Folkestone Early Years, Hythe Bay and The Village) into KCC directly delivered provision embedded fully within the Early Help model and re-provision the existing Early Help offer to allow for the changes to the commissioned services.

To reduce the current funding levels of the two remaining centres (Millmead and Seashells) with the view to re-procure the service in twelve months’ time. The detail of the funding reduction has yet to be agreed, but options will be discussed by representatives in Early Help and Preventative Service and both providers.

Expected date: 4th January 2018

17/00121(b) – To bring Riverside commissioned Children’s Centre into KCC directly delivered provision fully within the Early Help model and re-provision the existing Early Help offer to allow for the change in the commissioning arrangements.  This will include a detailed schedule of services that will continue to be delivered at the Riverside Centre as a venue.

Expected date: 24^th January 2018 (following further consideration at CYPE Cabinet Committee on 18^th January 2018)

Background

There are 85 Children’s Centres across Kent. Of the 85, six are commissioned Children’s Centres, provided by six different organisations. The remaining 79 Centres are provided directly by KCC. Of the six commissioned Centres, five are subject to a contract and one is managed via a Service Level Agreement (SLA).

A review was undertaken to look at the disparity in cost, the effectiveness and the value for money delivered by the six commissioned children’s centres across the county when compared to the other KCC children’s centres, which are directly delivered as part of the Early Help offer. As part of this review, consideration was given to the added social value offered across some community hubs.

Options

By bringing four of the six centres (Riverside, Folkestone Early Years, Hythe Bay and The Village) into the wider Early Help model for Childrens Centres and reducing the overall budget of each of the four centres by 63% and using the remaining 37% to fund an alternative in house option the savings would equate to £450k per annum. 

Where there is good service provision and a high added social value (Millmead and Seashells) the proposal would be to reduce the financial envelop for these two centres (to be negotiated) for 1 year, whilst a re-procurement exercise is undertaken.

How the proposed decision meets the objectives of ‘Increasing Opportunities, Improving Outcomes: Kent County Council’s Strategic Statement (2015-2020)’:

In order to develop proposals for future options for the commissioned centres, commissioning officers have undertaken a review of each of the centres comparing unit costs, quality of provision, performance against key performance indicators (KPIs) and added social value.

The approach and focus of the review was fully aligned to supporting the outcomes associated with the Strategic Outcome ‘Children and Young People in Kent get the best start in life’.

As part of this review consideration has also been given to how the Local Authority will ensure residents and the wider community continue to receive robust services at the right time from the right place. The commissioning team have therefore taken into account the available financial envelope and developments to the existing internal provision.

Millmead and Seashells are able to demonstrate how they have developed projects and generated other funding streams to assist their core offer. These innovations have increased their added social value. This is not the case for the remaining four centres, where service users would be unlikely to notice any change in provision should services be moved from external to being part of the wider internal Early Help offer. The Director of Early Help and Preventative Services will ensure that the in-house Early Help offer appropriately meets the needs of families currently using the commissioned children’s centres.

As Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education Cabinet I agree to:

1.    Bring three of the six currently commissioned Children’s Centres (Folkestone Early Years, Hythe Bay and The Village) into KCC directly delivered provision fully within the Early Help model and re-provision the existing Early Help offer to ensure continued provision across all districts.

2.    Reduce the current funding levels of the two remaining centres (Millmead and Seashells), by 15% (each) for 2018/19, with the view to re-procure the service in twelve months’ time.