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Memorandum submitted by Lincolnshire County Council
1. How models of Children's Centres have developed as the programme spreads from the most deprived neighbourhoods
In
"Working together, we will ensure that every child and young person, in every part of the county, has the best possible start in life and is able to achieve their potential. We will provide support to those who need it and ensure that all children and young people are able to achieve the five key outcomes"
· All children achieving potential - excellence in learning with support · Prevention - early action resulting in a shift of resources from Specialist to Universal · A single organisation - developing integrated working · Safeguarding our children - ensuring children are safe in every environment · Participation and aspiration - listening to and acting on what children and parents/carers tell us · Partnership - creating sustainable futures through collaboration
Lincolnshire is the fourth largest county in England covering an area of over 6,000 square kilometres it has a population of 692,800 of which 149,400 is aged under 19 and 36,001 is aged under 6 (March 2009). The % 0-5's distributed across the county in LCP/district areas is as follows:
· Boston - 3856 · East Lindsey - 5982 · Lincoln - 5350 · NK - 5154 · SH - 4191 · SK - 7203 · WL - 4265
The county is a two tier authority. The main centres of
population are
The county has 368 schools: five nursery, 279 primary, 21 special, 49 secondary, five academies and nine grammar schools.
The overall population is growing due to inward migration
and the increase in the number of births. The percentage increase for the local
authority ranges from 0.2% in
The CYPSP has a strong commitment to prevention and considers that early intervention and protective universal services are central to help families boost children's resilience and prevent poor outcomes.
The commissioning framework has enabled opportunities for
re-investment which have all contributed to strengthening front line service
delivery. Through a reduction in the
numbers of children coming into public care and in out of county placements.
This approach to prevention has started to deliver innovative solutions to meet local needs. The Common Assessment Framework has enabled children and young people to receive early, multi agency support. Our approach to workforce development seeks to create a single approach to leadership across Children's Services
Children's Centres are a key delivery point to support
the early intervention and preventative agenda that Lincolnshire CYPSP is
signed up to. The number of children's
centres has grown from 13 in March 2007 serving predominantly the 5% most
disadvantage wards to 36 in April 2008.
Of these 25 serve either the 5% or 30% most disadvantaged wards. By April 2010 there will be 48 children's
centres in
In 2006 national guidance made Local Authorities the accountable body for all Children's Centres.
Lincolnshire County Council spent time considering the best approach to this new responsibility and in discussion with Children's Centres colleagues decided that the local authority must take responsibility for financial management, planning and staff in the Children's Centres and working with statutory bodies to mainstream services.
In 2008 Lincolnshire County
Council Children's Services restructured the service for children and young
people within
This approach embedded children's centres and their ethos at the heart of local delivery ensuring a targeted approach to a universal provision. All referrals for services in the County are made through the Common Assessment framework and where appropriate supported through a team around the Child approach.
2. The range and effectiveness of services provided by Children's Centres
23% of
In addition evaluations of activities takes place on a regular
basis and through the commissioning arrangements organisations are charged with
evaluating the effectiveness of their services and feeding this information
back the Children's Centre Advisory Boards, in
Complete on annual Self Evaluation Forms each Children's Centre and LCP area.
They are supported in this process by the online "Perspective" SEF development and planning tool.
Please note that the NI information is available only at Lincolnshire level at this time but we are working with colleagues in health and other partners, to establish data sharing protocols and to be able to have access to the most up to date and timely data and provide it at an LCP level.
The Lincolnshire Performance Management Team is in the process of completing a data profile for each centre, based around the wards that are included in that centres reach area. This will include statistical information, such as the number of 0-5's, workless households and number of CIPC, CAF referrals etc.
Lincolnshire is not yet able to source the baseline data for a number of the excluded groups, such as number of fathers, children and/or parents with disabilities or the ethnicity breakdown but we are continuing with our research and will continue to provide as much relevant local data as we can, so that centres will, in time be able to measure effectively their reach and trends.
A conversation takes place every year to develop localities around the work they are undertaking in Children's Centres and its impact of children and families.
The standardisation of the Children's Centre data collection and recording systems has made for much more effective and meaningful interpretation of intelligence and data that supports centres to plan, develop, monitor and review activities linking this to financial monitoring and challenging value and services that meet the needs and priorities of their communities. The process includes a quarterly reporting cycle, robust monitoring and review processes to ensure the continual challenge, evaluation and improvement of services for children and families.
3. Funding, sustainability and value for money
Lincolnshire Children's Services has agreed a funding formula to distribute the children's centre and sure start local programme grant. This is based on Hectares, Disadvantage and Number of 0-5s. The different headings are weighted as follows:
· Hectares (10%) · Disadvantage (50%) · Number of 0-5s (40%)
An exercise has been undertaken to look at the impact of reduced grant over the coming years with agreement being sort as to priority areas. In addition a task group has been established to look at sustainability of children's centres over the next 5 years, focusing on income generation and social enterprise.
The main issue faced by
Lincolnshire Children's Services has agreed that the following areas of work will be commissioned centrally by Lincolnshire County Council. This list is likely to increase as a full understanding of the services required by localities is understood and analysed as the Children's Centres further development to become a universal targeted service.
The areas for further central commissioning are:
· Work with ULHT and PCT to provide additional Health Visiting, Speech and Language, midwifery and breastfeeding support to families through children's centres. · Job Centre Plus activities ensuring parents have access to employment opportunities. · Family/ Outreach Support ensuring that families are given the appropriate support. · Women's Aid ensuring appropriate support around domestic violence. · Children's Centre Teachers who are managed through our partnership arrangement with CfBT.
Support children and family members is delivered through Children's Centres but also funded by other agencies, if and where there is capacity. For example Job Centre Plus should be encouraged to deliver services through children centres especially for lone parents.
4. Staffing, governance, management and strategic planning Principles for Children's Centres in Lincolnshire
The local authority is the accountable body for Children's Centres and line manage the Children's Service Team Manager, Principal Practitioner and Children's Centre Practitioner to ensure consistency of service. Lincolnshire County Council takes responsibility for financial and performance management and commissioning of services.
Professionals, Parents and the local community play a key role in the Partnership Boards for Children's Centres. Partnership Boards make recommendations on budget and service delivery in a locality. There is a common approach to Children's Centres in Children's Centres play a central role in improving outcomes for all but will focus on improving outcomes for 0-5's and their families, in reducing the inequalities in outcomes between the most disadvantaged children and the rest. Although centres need to reflect different local needs, in all areas they will be a central part of the local authorities and health provision for young children and their families, and the services provided reflect the overreaching Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP)/ Local Area Agreement (LAA) target.
Children's Centres are key to the establishment of integrated working arrangements between health, local authority and other colleagues to ensure that the Every Child Matters outcomes of being healthy and staying safe are met, and that the prevented outcome of achieving economic well being for the family and raising the aspirations of children.
Individual children's centres are managed by either a Children's Centre Practitioner or Principal Practitioner who are a member of a locality integrated children's services team. These staff manage between 2 and 3 children's centres dependent on the level of disadvantage that the children's centre serves. All children's centres have support staff who ensures that the centre is open and that families are greeted. A range of other providers are then commissioned to provide services from the centre or other venues in the children's centre area.
All children's centres are served by a Children's Service Partnership which is the advisory board that ensure that services are shaped to meet local need. These boards are made up of 50% parents from the children's centre area. This is a current performance measure that is being monitored on a quarterly basis. The Children's Services Partnerships feed into the Local Children's Partnership that serves the district area of the integrated children's services. This link ensures that the 0-5 agenda fits firmly in the 0-19 agenda.
Governance arrangements across all Centres will follow the principles outlined below:
· Wide, representative participation; · Strategic vision shared by users and providers; · Commitment on the part of all those involved; · Responsiveness to need; · Transparency and robust accountability; · Effective and efficient delivery processes; · Clear, shared sense of purpose between all parties and knowledge of who they are there to represent.
As
Children's Centres are central to the delivery of integrated children's
services for children and their families, and as such are set within the
context of
In addition, LCC integrated strategy considers Children's Centres as a significant delivery point for services for children aged 0-11 years and their families.
Lincolnshire CYPSP is committed to local decision making to meet the needs of local people within a strategic commissioning framework. To achieve this vision, it is recognised that governance arrangements for children's centres will need to be flexible to reflect community needs.
Localities are aligned with district council boundaries with the responsibility for the delivery of integrated children's services through the leadership of a 0-19 Head of Service for each locality.
Each Children's Centre or agreed number of centres working collectively, have a Children's Services Partnership. The Children's Services Partnership will have 50% parent / community representation and will also have membership from delivery partners.
Children's Services Partnerships determine membership locally through an annual general meeting, recognising the importance of the Voluntary, Community sector as well as parents as delivery partners.
5. How well Children's Centres work with other partners and services, especially schools and health services
Lincolnshire Children's Services has a strong working relationship with Lincolnshire PCT and ULHT. Currently, we are working to deliver the core offer as described by NHS Lincolnshire as Commissioners to be delivered through Children's Centres.
In response to need and to assist in further improving outcomes for children and young people and families, all Lincolnshire Sure Start Children's Centres have developed additional activities, workforce development plans and initiatives. These activities have been developed specifically in response to the expressed need of communities they serve and to tackle normative need in response to National Public Service Agreements, Service Delivery targets and locally developed indicators
This approach is enhancing the consistency of service delivery whilst allowing local flexibility.
The proposed delivery model developed by the Speech and Language Service is an excellent example of this and we seek to build on this for the delivery of all health services.
The core programme developed within universal health services (Health visiting and school nursing) as commissioned by NHS Lincolnshire details the provision that will be offered, utilising the concept of progressive universalism to ensure that resources are targeted at the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in order to achieve equity of outcome for children and families.
The current health agenda supports the integration of services and includes a requirement to raise standards of care for children aged 0-16. These standards are laid out in Maternity Matters (2004), the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services (2005), in addition to meeting the requirements of Every Child Matters - Change for Children (2004), 'Delivering Choosing Health - Safeguarding Children's Health (2004) and modernise primary care services as recommended in the Chief Nursing Officers (CNO) review of the nursing contribution to vulnerable children and young people (2004), Working Together to Safeguard Children (2006), Care Matters (2008).
In light of these competing agendas and the pressing call for a co-ordinated approach to meeting local health needs, it is agreed that a proposal for a collaborative way of delivering health will be drafted by December 2009.
Lincolnshire Children's Services has strong links with Job Centre Plus. Children's Centre are well placed to contribute to the employability agenda and the Every Child Matters outcome of achieving economic well-being by helping to address and reach the following Government targets:
· halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating by 2020 · increasing the number of children in lower income working families using formal childcare by 120,000 by 2008 · helping 70% of lone parents back to work · Increase the uptake of working families tax credit
The
Childcare Act 2006 places a duty on local authorities, Primary Care Trusts and
Jobcentre plus to work together to improve outcomes for children.
Lincolnshire Early Years Service is commissioned out to CfBT. There is a good strategic relationship which is replicated in localities, with good and improving relationships between Children's Centres, Children's Centre Teachers, Early Years Foundation Stage providers and schools. The Foundation Stage profile information is used to plan and provide services to support learning and development.
6. Whether services are being accessed by those most in need and how effective for the most vulnerable
Performance
Management process are being embedded to analyse the uptake of services by
families. The integrated Children's
Services model adapted by
October 2009 |