Purpose

The paper will set out the
recommendations based on the public consultation run over the
summer to move from a 0-5 aged Children’s Centre model to a
0-19 (25 with SEND) Family Hubs model.

Content

For the reasons set out in the
report and the appendices, the Executive Mayor and Cabinet
RESOLVED:
 
2.1 To approve the receipt of
the Family Hubs grant of £6.2m from the Department for
Education and the Department for Health and Social Care for the
ongoing development and delivery of the Family Hubs Best Start in
Life programme from April 2026 to March 2029.
 
2,2 To consider the outcome of
the public consultation on the proposal as set out at Section 5 of
the report and Appendix 1 and the Equality Impact Assessment at
Section 8.2.
 
2.3 To note the public feedback
steering the development of our Family Hubs to ensure early years
provision is protected, Family Hubs services are developed to
ensure they are accessible and reach families across the
borough.
 
2.4 To note residents support
for the existing services and staff, the welcoming environments
that have been created which provide a strong foundation for the
continued development of Family Hubs services and locations to
build upon.
 
2.5 To approve the
Children’s Centres 0-5 aged service transitioning to a Family
Hub 0 19 (25 with SEND) aged service.
 
2.6 To approve the Family Hubs
model of delivery with three main Family Hub locations, as agreed
by the DfE in our initial delivery plan. To approve outreach Hubs
in the buildings which were Children’s Centres, and the
development of Information Hubs across the borough in existing
Council, Health and VCFS partner locations in line with the
suggestions captured in the report at Appendix 1.
 
2.7 To approve the Family Hubs
and Outreach Hubs across Croydon being re-named and re-branded in
line with the Family Hubs Best Start in Life name and branding
expectations from central Government.
 
2.8 To approve that Family Hubs
carry out further exploration of the Croydon Clocktower campus to
be considered as the third Family Hub for the Central Locality,
based on suggestions from residents in the public
consultation.
 
2.9 To note there will be a
review of the programme in 2027-2028 to assess the long term viability of the programme before the
Family Hubs Best Start in Life funding ends in March
2029.