Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Children, Education & Families

Forward Plan Ref: 2015/023

Contact: Jim Leivers, Director for Children’s Services Tel: (01865) 815122

Report by Director for Children’s Services (CA7).

In common with councils across England, Oxfordshire County Council have to make savings across all service areas as a result of reductions in government funding, pressures on all services and restrictions on ability to raise Council Tax. The Children, Education and Families Directorate need to find savings of £8 million.

Nationally, children’s services are now dealing with a growing number of child protection cases and children at risk of neglect.  Over the past few years there has been a 50 per cent rise in the number of children on child protection plans, in part as a response to growing concerns about child sexual exploitation.

Reduced funding and rising demand mean we need to make radical changes to the way services for children and families are delivered.

The overwhelming priority for children’s services must be to meet our legal requirement to keep children safe from abuse and neglect and it would clearly be unsafe to reduce funding of core child protection social work. The Directorate's savings, therefore, have to come from the Early Intervention Service, which includes the current network of 44 Children's Centres and 7 Early Intervention Hubs and the Youth Engagement and Opportunities Team.

The need to make changes, however, presents opportunities to think about new ways to support families within their communities and ensure some of the services provided within Early Intervention continue.

The Council has developed a preferred model for a new 0-19 service based on integrating the services provided by Children’s Centres, Early Intervention Hubs and Children’s Social Care. This approach was recommended by the cross-party Cabinet Advisory Group set up to look at new ways of working.

The £8m that remains from the current £16m budget for the Early Intervention Service will be combined with the £4m budget for Children’s Social Care Family Support Teams to create a wholly new £12m service.

The new service will focus on supporting children on child protection plans, children in need and those identified as vulnerable through Oxfordshire's Thriving Families programme.

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED:

·                 That the options identified in the report be put forward for public consultation during the Autumn of 2015

·                 A further report outlining outcome of the consultation along with detailed proposals for the future shape of services be produced for Cabinet consideration in early 2016.

Recommendation agreed.

It was further agreed that the outcome of the consultation be considered by Performance Scrutiny Committee before coming back to cabinet.

In common with councils across England, Oxfordshire County Council have to make savings across all service areas as a result of reductions in government funding, pressures on all services and restrictions on ability to raise Council Tax. The Children, Education and Families Directorate need to find savings of £8 million.

The Council has developed a preferred model for a new 0-19 service based on integrating the services provided by Children’s Centres, Early Intervention Hubs and Children’s Social Care. This approach was recommended by the cross-party Cabinet Advisory Group set up to look at new ways of working.

The new service will focus on supporting children on child protection plans, children in need and those identified as vulnerable through Oxfordshire's Thriving Families programme. Cabinet had before them a report setting out options for approval for public consultation.

Emma Burnett, Cultivate Oxfordshire Ltd, spoke in support of the work of children’s centres and illustrated their value by reference to her and her family’s experiences. She suggested that the Council should use reserves to keep the centres open even if in a streamlined fashion so that buildings and staff were not lost. She asked that the Council give users and the voluntary sector a couple of years to find solutions.

Dr Sonia Bues, as a clinical psychologist commented that she dealt with people with entrenched problems and that early intervention was vital. Children’s Centres provided this support. It was important that this was easily accessible, universal and non-stigmatising. She referred to press reports detailing how scores of children had been let down and asked that more children not be failed by the closure of the children’s centres.

Jo Lovell, spoke both as a user and then a helper at a children’s centres and referred to the help and support she had received at a difficult time.

Claire El Mouden, as a user of a children’s centre highlighted, by reference to her own experience, why universal access was important.

Charlie Payne, showed Cabinet photos of a children’s centre session and shared with them comments of the parents there which expressed how much they valued the service provided.

James Kirkham, as a father had used the baby cafes and found them welcoming and without the children’s centre he was not sure that he would have built his confidence as a father. He and his daughter felt part of a community and the parenting course he had taken had helped with his step son.

Jill Huish, a user of the service, expressed sadness and dismay at the proposed models all of which she felt to be wrong. The short term savings would be offset by more costly knock on effects. She referred to the wide range of services available through children’s centres. She shared with Cabinet her experience highlighting the courses she had taken. She felt that the support from highly trained staff had avoided social worker intervention.

Eleanor Pritchard, informed Cabinet that she had used her local children’s centre when she had felt  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78