Issue - meetings

This report provides an update, and reviews the impact of the changes made to Children’s Centre Services and of the recommissioning of the Specialist Family Support and the Community Play services.

The Chair said that she was pleased to see that there had been no decrease in targeted support following the remodelling of Children’s Centre Services that had taken place. She asked what steps have been taken to ensure that the errors in the first tendering of Family Support and Play Services are not repeated.

The Senior Commissioning Manager for Preventative Services replied that officers now have more clarity of the procurement process and have been working with the Information Governance team.

Councillor Matt Cochrane asked if this would lead to any impact on service delivery.

The Senior Commissioning Manager for Preventative Services replied that services were not affected by this process taking place.

Councillor Liz Hardman asked if there was a danger that some of the centres could still be closed in the future.

The Senior Commissioning Manager for Preventative Services replied that a range of partners now use the centres including voluntary groups and health teams and that work was ongoing to look at how their costs associated with the centres can be incorporated into future budgets.

The Chair asked how the charges for the Council run universal groups compare with other toddler groups.

The Senior Commissioning Manager for Preventative Services replied that the charges were set at a competitive rate.

Councillor Colin Barrett asked why there was such an increase in the percentage of families accessing targeted support 10 months pre and post 1st June 2015 in Keynsham / Chew Valley.

The Senior Commissioning Manager for Preventative Services replied that this was likely to be as a result of more effective targeting.

Councillor Liz Hardman asked if families from rural areas were entitled to any financial assistance in relation to transport costs to attend centres.

The Service Manager for 0-11 Outcomes replied that when there are targeted services running that restrict certain families from attending we will do all we can to enable a family to access the group and sometimes this might involve support with transport costs. She added that they now run groups in a number of rural areas such as Timsbury, Cameley, Longvernal so that families are served in some of our remoter parts. 

Councillor Liz Hardman commented that there were no universal services currently available within Paulton.

The Senior Commissioning Manager for Preventative Services replied that some targeted services were still available and that 1-2-1 work was ongoing.

Councillor Alison Millar asked how Health Visitors felt about the changes that have occurred.

The Senior Commissioning Manager for Preventative Services replied that it was a culture shock for some to be based within the centres. She added that the levels of early support and interventions have improved from this form of partnership working.

The Panel RESOLVED to:

(i)  Note the updates provided in this paper.

(ii)  Receive an update on the new Family Support and Play Service one year on.

(iii)  Receive a paper on the evolving performance framework for Early Help Services in due course.