Councillors today (Wednesday 14 August) have given the green light to proposals setting out what Devon’s new Family Hub network of services will look like.
Much of it will utilise former Children’s Centre buildings already familiar to families, as well as additional locations in local communities.
The decision to develop a network of Family Hubs across the county was taken by the council last year.
Today’s decision by our Cabinet, following a lot of public engagement and consultation with families and professionals who work with families, is about the future use of the 27 former Children’s Centre buildings as part of the new Family Hubs network.
The proposals have since been revised to reflect the feedback, with Councillors asked to agree proposals for 9 main Family Hubs, 14 outreach spaces, and potentially 15 additional outreach sites yet to be identified to provide support to the Family Hubs network.
Of the 27 current Children’s Centre buildings, 13 will be become part of the Family Hubs network and 14 will be used to provide family support, such as childcare, and services that support families of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
A breakdown of the proposed hub locations is available in the news story on our main news page.
Councillors were also asked today to consider who will run the Family Hubs after the current contract with the charity, Action for Children, expires in March 2025.
Action for Children has delivered Children’s Centre services on behalf of the county council since 2017 and it is currently contracted to help the transition between Children’s Centres and Family Hubs.
Councillors were given three options:
- to allow the current contract to expire next March and not continue with the development or expansion of Family Hubs
- to tender for a new contract, which all potential service providers could bid for, including Action for Children
- or to continue with the expansion of the services but to take the delivery of it in-house, with relevant Action for Children staff involved with the services becoming subject to TUPE, (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
Councillors agreed the latter, to take the delivery of the service in-house with relevant Action for Children staff potentially transferring to the council.