Purpose

Croydon are one of 75 local
authorities eligible for Family Hubs transformation and Start for
Life funded services of up to £4.7m for to undertake a
radical systems approach across the council, ICB and VCS with joint
responsibilities and funding arrangements. 
 
Best Start contracts were let on 1 January 2022 to 31 March 2024
with no provision to extend. 
Due to services being co-dependent upon the
development of the Family Hub model Commissioners are seeking
approval to extend Best Start contracts to align with the Family
Hubs transformation programme timetable which comes to an end in
March 2025.
 
Should the contract come to its
natural end the delivery of the Family Hub Start for Life service
agreed with the Department of Education and Department of Health
and Social Care would be undeliverable. 
In addition, should services be discontinued, there would be a
significant impact outcome for babies, children and young
people.
 

Content

For the reasons set out in the
report the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and
Education RESOLVED:
 
2.1 to agree an extension by
way of variation of the Best Start contracts listed below until 31
March 2025, for an additional annual value of £1,432,000 and
an overall value of £4,857,682 across all
contracts:
 
a. Two a maintained nursery
school. Twelve
months extension value
£844,850
 
b. Five Community, Parenting
Aspirations and Parenting Skills contracts (covering 4 Lots).
Twelve months extension value £180,000.
 
c. One, Parent Infant
Partnership contract. Twelve month extension value
£64,000
 
2.2 to note the providers names
are listed at paragraph 4.6 of this report.
 
2.3 to note the Best Start
contracts were varied in March 2023 under Corporate Directors
delegated decision [CYPE01/23] to mobilse and implement the Family Hubs Start for
Life funded services approved by the Department of Education,
February 2023 to increase capacity and delivery new services to
expectant parents, infants and very young children in Croydon. The
extended contract value of £4,857,682 takes account of said
variation.
 
2.3 to agree that, subject to
additional funding being confirmed as available by the Director of
Finance, the contract shall be further varied to enable the
continued provision of Family Hubs Start for Life services for the
additional value of £188k during the period of the requested
extension.

Reasons for the decision

Croydon are one of 75 local
authorities eligible for Family Hubs transformation and Start for
Life funded services of up to £4.7m for to undertake a
radical systems approach across the council, ICB and VCS with joint
responsibilities and funding arrangements. Local authorities around
the country are reviewing current arrangements to meet these new
requirements through the Family Hubs agenda, further strengthening
and bringing to the fore the need for greater integration across
the system.
 
Due to services being
co-dependent upon the development of the Family Hub model
Commissioners are seeking approval to extend Best Start contracts
to align with the Family Hubs transformation programme timetable
which comes to an end in March 2025.
 
Provisions under the core
contract (excluding the additional Family Hubs Start for Life
element) remain the same and with no change to the original value.
Funding for the continuation of delivery of Start for Life services
during the extension period of this report will be through the
Family Hubs Transformation programme.

Alternative options considered

A) Do nothing
Rejected
The local authority has a duty
to provide early childhood services which are currently being
transformed as part of the Family Hub programme. Should services
cease there would be a risk to meeting the requirements of the
programme and loss of grant funding for Start for Life services. A
statutory consultation would also be required if services were
decommissioned.
 
B) Agree to extend and vary the
current contracts Recommended This option will ensure the
continuation of service provision, avoid the lost of grant funding and risk of further
increasing health inequalities for very young children already
impacted by the Covid pandemic.