House of Commons - Foundation Years: Sure Start children's centres

Foundation Years: Sure Start children's centres - Education Committee Contents

4 Reaching children and families in need

Disadvantaged groups

79. Studies of Sure Start children's centres by the National Audit Office (in 2006) and Ofsted (in 2008) questioned how well children's centres were reaching the most vulnerable families.[168] While many children's centres have made progress since then,[169] practice varies both between and within local authorities. The NSPCC found that, in one local area, children's centres' engagement with teenage parents varied from 6% to 68%, while engagement with non-working families varied from 28% to 100%.[170] Evidence to our inquiry suggested that barriers faced by disadvantaged families in engaging with children's centres included a lack of awareness of services on offer, negative prior experiences or distrust of helping agencies, social isolation, perceptions that services were unwelcoming or not relevant and poor transport links.[171] Some groups, such as fathers, disabled parents or those with disabled children, face particular problems in attending centres. Ofsted also reported that "Many children's centres report that they are less successful in reaching families suffering from 'hidden needs' like domestic violence, lone parents and teenage parents".[172]

80. The Children's Society argued that centres need to adapt to the needs of fathers, by offering services outside the normal working week.[173] This was supported by some witnesses but the Fatherhood Institute questioned whether fathers-only groups were effective, arguing that "it is likely that the single most important recruitment strategy is, right from the start, to present the father's engagement as expected and important— and to mean it."[174] An NFER study found that children's centre staff emphasised the importance of targeting needs (those of children, parents and families) rather than targeting specific groups (such as teenage parents, lone parents, minority ethnic groups), in order to avoid stigmatising or stereotyping, and to increase the focus on outcomes.[175]

81. A recent report by the Children's Society into the barriers faced by disadvantaged families in engaging with children's centres found that in some areas there was still a lack of awareness and understanding of what children's centres were and that they were not widely promoted by the local authority and partner organisations.[176] This was endorsed by witnesses: for example, Jill Rutter of the Family and Childcare Trust argued that "Not all local authorities have easily accessible information about children's centres on their websites".[177] This underlines the importance of targeted outreach, conducted both by centres themselves and through organisations such as Homestart, and of practical assistance such as help with transport.

82. Naomi Eisenstadt warned that it was easy for centres to focus on parents and children currently using services and to risk missing some families in need of support. She told us that "it is the finding out who is not coming that is the key to the targeted work."[178] Dame Clare Tickell agreed that "even if you are full, that might not mean that you are reaching the right people."[179] The Family and Childcare Trust noted that, until 2011, local authorities were obliged to report data about the reach of Sure Start children's centres to the DfE. This provided information about the use of children's centres by groups such as lone parents, workless households and teenage parents and "highlighted the varied level of success of Sure Start in reaching disadvantaged groups or those less likely to use services".[180]

83. Local authorities are obliged under the Children Act 1989 to identify the number of children in need in their area and also to support their families. This provides a framework for identifying those in need but we recommend that there be a new duty on local authorities to put these children and families in contact with services, including children's centres. Local authorities and health professionals should seek out the most vulnerable children and also do more through their websites and other services to raise awareness of children's centres.

84. We recommend that the DfE restore the national collection of data on the reach of individual centres in order that both good and poor practice can be identified and monitored, including the effectiveness of centre services and the impact on children in the community. Ofsted could use this data to assist them in their role of requiring local authorities and centres to account for those who do not attend.

85. Barriers to involving disadvantaged groups and others, such as fathers, who are reluctant to engage with centres must be addressed in practical ways. Children's centres need to learn from the best practice of those who have been successful in doing this, including offering services outside school hours and terms to enable more people to take advantage of their services. Again, networks of centres, such as Early Years Teaching Centres, have an important part to play in this.

Involving parents in children's centres

86. According to the Government's core purpose document, respecting and engaging parents is one of the principles underpinning the work of children's centres. The document explains that this "will involve local families having a greater say in how services are delivered (with transparency about what money is being spent on and what difference it is making), actively engaging them in delivery through volunteering opportunities, as well as working with health visitors to build the capacity of local parents to help each other and form informal networks of support."[181]

87. Many parents already contribute to the running of their centres through volunteering. A survey by the charity 4Children in 2011 found that 87% of children's centres were using volunteers.[182] Their 2013 census highlighted an increase in their numbers and stressed their role as "a strong link to and with the local communities".[183] The DfE provided funding to the Daycare Trust (now the Family and Childcare Trust) to increase volunteering in children's centres and childcare settings, including looking at ways of increasing the participation of fathers and grandfathers.[184] The Children's Society's recent report expressed support for volunteering as a way of engaging disadvantaged groups,[185] and we also heard that the Parent Champions project was successful "in getting volunteers in".[186]

88. Possible barriers to involvement by parents include lack of time and a need for help with childcare or travel costs.[187] Witnesses also raised the challenge of ensuring that certain groups of parents did not take over and put off harder-to-reach families. The Sure Start children's centre survey of parents, published by the previous Government in 2009, found that "there is no evidence that particular groups of parents or carers are monopolising the centres. Equally, the results suggest that no sub-groups are being excluded from or failing to access the centres."[188] However, Barnardo's noted that "in a minority of cases, parent groups have sometimes given way to 'cliques' creating an exclusive culture. There is a risk that this could make it more difficult to engage with harder-to-reach families".[189] Naomi Eisenstadt agreed that this was a potential issue but stressed that managing it was a key part of the children's centre leader role: "it is making sure that the current crop of users are not off-putting to the most disadvantaged, because that is what happens. They do not want the drug-abusing woman there; they do not want their children mixing with that family. So it is a very skilled task to get that mix right."[190]

89. Some witnesses also drew attention to the limits of parental involvement with regard to taking decisions about what was offered in centres. Professor Melhuish told us that "there is certainly a case for consulting the community, but if you leave this decision entirely to the community, then you are reliant on the expertise being present in the community to make the relevant decisions."[191] Similarly, Naomi Eisenstadt described the tension over "to what extent you are responding to what mothers and fathers want and to what extent you are delivering things that you know will help their children or, indeed, help them."[192] Professor Sylva suggested that balancing the two elements was another key element in the role of the children's centre leader.[193]

90. It is important that centres involve parents through parents groups and in other ways. Local people need to be encouraged to take a stronger role in influencing the management of children's centres. Volunteering is particularly important and should be encouraged both in itself and as part of a career route into employment for many parents. Practical support, such as training, childcare vouchers or transport, could make a significant difference in encouraging this kind of involvement.

Data-sharing

91. Good information-sharing is vital if children's centres are to identify the children and families in need of their services. The DfE statutory guidance is that health services and local authorities should share data, including live birth data and data on families under five who have moved into the area, with children's centres; and that local authorities and health service commissioners should consider developing local partnership agreements for this.[194] This is clearly working in some areas but not others. The DfE acknowledged "lingering barriers to effective sharing of data and information"[195] and the LGA expressed concern about "the persistent barriers to effective information sharing between services and children's centres, specifically in the new health landscape".[196]

92. Access to live birth data is a particular difficulty. Barnardo's reported that "we are aware of poor practice [...] where health professionals consider this task [data sharing of live births] beyond their remit, making it very hard to obtain sufficient data."[197] A survey by Action for Children found nearly 70 per cent of their centres were experiencing problems accessing live birth data.[198] This is supported by the ECCE Strand 3 finding that "many centres also spoke of the long-standing difficulties in getting access to birth data from health authorities; this seemed to be a local policy decision that could be addressed, since the problems in gaining access to health data were not encountered in all centres".[199] The recent serious case review into the death of Hamzah Khan in Bradford referred to the failure to share birth data with the result that no early years or school services knew of the child's existence.[200]

93. These difficulties were variously attributed by witnesses to factors such as stretched resources and clashing geographical and organisational boundaries,[201] but overwhelmingly the blame was attributed to the current guidelines on data-sharing and what the Children and Young People's health outcomes forum described as "a wide lack of understanding of the rules about information sharing".[202] Nicki Price, Chief Executive of Corby Clinical Commissioning Group, told us that "even within health, we struggle to pass information across health organisations due to information governance. To pass information from health out into some organisations then becomes very difficult."[203] Health-visiting lead, Diane Dinch explained that "if your guidelines are vague, it leaves you feeling quite insecure and therefore you err on the side of caution."[204]

94. Some areas have found ways to overcome these barriers, usually involving the development of information-sharing protocols and consent procedures. The LGA assured us that "there is a lot of work underway to improve data sharing between public bodies".[205] A recent NFER study featured "blue slip registration", which involves parents giving explicit consent for their details to be shared with children's centres.[206] Some areas apply the notion of "presumed consent" which means that there is an assumption that new birth information can be passed to children's centres, unless a parent indicates that they do not wish the children's centre to be informed. In these areas, most parents allow new birth information to be shared.[207]

95. The lack or insufficiency of shared data has a detrimental impact on the work of centres. Ofsted reported that difficulty in obtaining information from key partners affects the ability of centres "to monitor their work effectively and to track the difference they are making to their target families".[208] ECCE Strand 3 reported that centres "found it difficult without adequate statistics to plan how best to target resources where they were most needed, and difficult to intervene early before major problems developed".[209]

96. In 2011 the DfE set up a task and finish group with Department of Health, chaired by Jean Gross CBE, to look at the issue of information-sharing in the Foundation Years.[210] After much delay the report was finally published on 21 November 2013, after we had finished taking evidence for our inquiry.[211] The report echoed many of the issues around information-sharing. In particular, it confirmed that these issues were "more about institutional and professional practice and culture than national regulation" and that the barriers were "less about actuality and more about the clarity of existing guidance, whether different groups of professionals have actually seen it, and about professionals' attitudes and beliefs".[212] The Ministerial response agreed, amongst other measures, to consider how to further strengthen guidance on information sharing and to explore how to achieve an e-learning module on information sharing in the foundation years.[213]

97. We welcome the Gross report on information-sharing in the foundation years. Data-sharing is vital: the DfE must strengthen its guidance on health services and local authorities sharing data with children's centres. We recommend that the DfE and the Department of Health audit where this is not happening and ensure that the appropriate protocols are put in place. The Government should report back on its findings.

Child protection and children in need

98. Ofsted's inspection findings indicate that "many children's centres are becoming increasingly proactive in promoting the use of the Common Assessment Framework as a tool for referral."[214] It appears that this is not balanced by a similarly proactive approach on the part of children's services. The NSPCC reported that children's centres do not always receive information about Children in Need, citing one manager as saying "we know which children are on Child Protection plans, but we don't know the Children in Need who live in the area. If we did, we could offer support."[215] The NSPCC argued that centres needed better information on domestic violence, drug misuse and mental health cases.[216]

99. The DfE provides one way of improving co-ordination with children's services in its statutory guidance, saying that "Each children's centre should have a link to a named Social Worker".[217] This provision was welcomed by several witnesses, particularly those from children's charities.[218] The LGA was wary of this "top down stipulation", on the ground that local authorities needed the flexibility to make local determinations as to how multiple agencies can best work together;[219] but individual authorities such as Lancashire County Council suggested that the model "has strengthened joint working and improved information sharing",[220] while the East Riding of Yorkshire was confident that the named social worker requirement "has not been an issue as all Children's Centre practitioners know the social worker involved with the family they are working with".[221] This underlines the importance of the observation from Annie Hudson, Chief Executive, of the College of Social Work, that it was the quality of the relationship, rather than the model, which was important.[222] Action for Children recommended the Children's Centre Social Worker pilot as best practice, whereby a social worker coordinates services with children's centres to prevent the escalation of need.[223]

100. Local authorities need to ensure better co-ordination between children's services and children's centres. Information on children and families known to social services should be passed on where possible. In particular, children's centres should be directly linked to Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC) to ensure that they are kept informed about domestic violence. The principle behind the named social worker requirement is that there should be clear responsibility for building relations with children's centres so that action can be taken quickly where necessary. Local authorities should ensure that this is done even where the named social worker model is not adopted. The DfE should revise its statutory guidance to reflect this.

Registration of births

101. There have been trials involving siting the local birth registration service in children's centres, including an experiment in Knowsley under the Transforming Early Years programme, run by the Innovation Unit for public services.[224] The Minister reported that "The evidence from where [such trials have] taken place is very positive about the level of engagement of children and families".[225] She cited an example where a children's centre had achieved a re-engagement figure of 87.5%.[226] These results led to a recommendation from the APPG on Sure Start that registration of births at children's centres should be made as a matter of course. Vicki Lant of Barnardo's described this approach as "an incredibly practical, pretty obvious way of engaging families at a point when they may be pleased, open to suggestion and feeling that they want to do as well by their children as they possibly can."[227] Adrienne Burgess of the Fatherhood Institute was similarly positive.[228]

102. Local authority witnesses were against the proposal on the grounds of cost and staffing.[229] There are also questions about whether a children's centre is always going to be more convenient for parents than the traditional birth register office model, particularly given the move to different ways of organising early years services. The Minister noted the concerns of local authorities and acknowledged that while "conceptually it is a very attractive idea", she did "not want to impose extra burdens on local government if they say it does not work for them".[230] An alternative, recommended by Policy Exchange in a recent report on Sure Start, would be for all local authorities to adopt the "Tell Us Once" option and use it to inform children's centres of new births.[231]

103. Registration of births at children's centres is a powerful engagement tool but we are unconvinced that it is necessarily a practical solution for all local authorities to implement. It is also not cost-free. We recommend that local authorities should be permitted to adopt the practice but not obliged to do so. An approach of presumed consent, where the local authority will pass on information to children's centres unless specifically told not to, could achieve similar results at lower cost.

Use of data by centres

104. Even if data were made available to centres from their partners, children's centre workers would need to hone their capacity to read, analyse and use this data. Ofsted told us that "A common factor in weaker centres is that they are not good at obtaining and using data, evaluating their services, and monitoring the take-up of particular groups and families. This diminishes their ability to target their services at those who are most in need within the community".[232] Recent research by Caroline Sharp of NFER for the Local Government Association also suggests that staff skills in data handling may be an issue, as it is an area "where significant challenges are reported."[233]

105. Graham Allen's report on early intervention notes that "development and training for children's centre staff around data handling is an important consideration for workforce development."[234] There may also be greater scope for joint training of those from different disciplines in this area to address the problem identified by Family Action that "siloised training of the different disciplines (ie education, health, social work early years) and the differing outcomes looked for in early child development and learning by these professionals are presently obstacles to integration".[235]

106. Children's centre staff need appropriate training in collecting and interpreting data and centre leaders need to be taught how to use the data to drive interventions. It should be the responsibility of local authorities to ensure that the required standards are met by centres. Joint training in data-handling with staff from other agencies would break down barriers and ensure greater understanding of what data is available and how it can be used to target those in need of services. We recommend that the DfE include this in its statutory guidance on children's centres.

168 NAO, Sure Start children's centres, December 2006, HC 104, Session 2006-07; Ofsted, How well are they doing: the impact of children's centres and extended schools, January 2008 Back

169 Impact studies, NESS 2008, 2010, 2012 Back

170 NSPCC presentation for APPG on Sure Start, 30 January 2013 Back

171 Eg Ev w20, para 7 and Ev 186, para 5.2 Back

172 Ev 180, para 20 Back

173 Ev w20 Back

174 Fathers and Parenting Interventions: what works?, Adrienne Burgess, The Fatherhood Institute, 2009, p33 Back

175 Lord, P., Southcott, C., and Sharp, C. (2011).Targeting children's centre services on the most needy families (LGA Research Report). Slough: NFER, p.3 Back

176 Ev w20 Back

177 Ev 186 Back

178 Q91 Back

179 Q83 Back