Children's Centres Consultation 2015
The Children's Centres Consultation 2015 has now closed
Update: 11 November 2015
On 10 November 2015, the council’s Cabinet approved a number of changes to children’s centre services in Haringey.
These changes will see the number of children’s centres in Haringey reduce from 16 to nine, with most remaining centres located in areas where need is greatest and offering a greater number of services to a wider range of people.
This decision followed a 90-day consultation period, which ran between June and September, 2015. For more information please see the consultation report (PDF, 2MB) our press release, refer to our Frequently Asked Questions (PDF, 36KB) or visit our children’s centres pages.
What we consulted on
Children's Centres Consultation 2015
We’re committed to enabling every child and young person in Haringey to have the best start in life and Haringey children’s centres are a key part of our approach to delivering that commitment.
We’re proposing to develop a new model for future children’s centre services in Haringey – so that they offer a greater number of services to a wider range of people. In developing this new model we want to build on the good work that children’s centres are already doing and - by working more closely with parents, carers, our partners, health and the wider community - use our scarce resources to build on this work where possible. We believe that these proposals utilise available resources to the best effect so that more children and families in Haringey are healthier, happier and more resilient.
During the next three years, the council’s early years budget, which funds services including children’s centres, will fall by £1.44 million as we look to meet savings demanded by government budget cuts.
Our proposals are built around focusing our resources on a reduced number of centres, most of which will be located in areas where need is greatest, so that support can be extended to all families with children and young people aged up to 19 years old - or 25 in the case of those with special educational needs and disabilities – rather than just to families with children aged between 0-5, as is the case now.
Our proposals would see nine of Haringey’s current sixteen children centres stay open and be enhanced to offer a wider range of services – to this wider group of people. The other seven sites would close as children’s centres, but we would support them to become part of a network of Community Access Points, providing some services found at children’s centres and signposting people to other forms of support where necessary.
How we consulted
The consultation took place over a 12 week period during which time we invited people to contribute their views via our questionnaire or at one of our consultation workshops.
Our frequently asked questions, along with our responses can be downloaded here:
Background
On 16 June 2015, the council’s Cabinet agreed that these proposals should be put out to statutory consultation:
- Read the 16 June 2015 Cabinet report (PDF, 1MB)
- Further detail can be found in the Childrens Centre Release Consultation Appendices (PDF, 405KB)
- And in the Equalities Impact Assessment (PDF, 343KB)