Children’s Centre Consultation

As part of the development of Family Hubs we are currently reviewing our Children’s Centre buildings and where they are. Through our recent engagement we’ve looked at demand and what families want, and we now have a proposal that we want to share with you, and invite you to let us know what you think.

The model of providing support to families is changing. The intention is to move to a universal offer for 0-19 year olds, and to 25 years old for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and care experienced young people.

To do that, we have been listening to parents and carers to get a better understanding of how they have used Children’s Centres and what they value most. This has given us a clearer idea of how Family Hubs can be most beneficial to families in future.

We are proposing a model of delivery, utilising buildings that have previously been used as Children’s Centres, to provide a combination of Family Hub centres in each district council area, and outreach hubs in local communities.

There are 27 children’s centres across Devon. This proposal suggests that:

• five are maintained to use as Family Hubs
• up to eighteen could potentially be used in an outreach capacity, if partners are open to this arrangement
• three will be completely passed to partners for alternative use such as childcare
• one will close

This consultation seeks the views of parents, young people and partners about the intended changes. These will help to inform the design and implementation of the new approach to delivering family support.

We would like to hear your views about these proposals – please complete our online survey.

The consultation begins on Wednesday 8 April and will run until 3 July.

• Download and read the full details about the consultation, which includes individual proposals for each of our current buildings
• Easy read version of the consultation
• Read the draft impact assessment
• The announcement: Proposals for the roll-out of new Family Hub centres

Please take what time you can give to have a look and to let us know your views. We would be very grateful. Thank you.