Agenda item

To review the Croydon’s Partnership Early Years Strategy approved by the Executive Mayor at Cabinet on 21 September 2022.

The Strategy sets out Croydon’s vision for Early Years, the priorities, the principles, and the outcomes to achieve for children from before they are born up to the age 5 at the end of the foundation stage, and their families.

The Sub-Committee considered a paper set out on pages 29 to 134 of the agenda, which provided the report approved by the Executive Mayor at Cabinet Report on 21st September 2022 on the Croydon Partnership - Early Years' Strategy. The Director of Education introduced and summarised the report.

Members asked about the criteria for the success of the Strategy and heard this this would be a key part of what would be developed as part of the delivery plan. Key indicators that the Strategy had been successful would be families knowing where they could access services and further indicators would be developed in conversation with parents, carers and schools. Responding to questions on the timeline for the Strategy, the Director for Education explained that this was a three-year strategy that would begin to be embedded following the completion of the delivery plan.

The Sub-Committee asked about funding for the Strategy and heard that this would be implemented using existing funding streams in Education, the Croydon Partnership and Public Health. There would be significant extra funding available for Family Hubs over a three-year period and this would help very young children, children up to the age of 19 and children with special needs and disabilities. The Family Hub model would look at priorities across education, health and children’s social care to focus all of these aims into a single strategy document. Members asked about children with complex needs, and were informed that an updated three-year SEND Strategy was currently being developed, and would feed into the Early Years Strategy to ensure it focussed on all children, however, it was important that there was also a separate SEND Strategy to account for those with the most complex need.

Members asked for a definition of Family Hubs and were informed that Family hubs are a place-based way of joining up locally in the planning and delivery of family services; they bring services together to improve access, improve the connections between families, professionals, services, and providers, and put relationships at the heart of family support. Family hubs offer support to families from conception and two, and to those with children of all ages, which is 0-19 or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and could be physical and virtual spaces. Family Hubs provided links between health services, social care and services for young children, but were still at a very early stage in their development. Members heard that other London boroughs had experienced great success with the model in providing or signposting support for families. The Director of Education explained that they were excited about the model and the opportunity to work as a partnership in its development; some of the Family Hubs funding would focus on providing a Start for Life offer to extend and widen the offer for the borough’s youngest children.

The Sub-Committee noted the key risk identified in the Children, Families & Education Delivery Plan 2021 – 2024 of the reduction in Children’s centre service delivery impacting early identification, intervention and prevention support within the community for vulnerable children and families, particularly delivery of universal service through centres; Members asked if this was recognised in delivering the Strategy. The Director for Education confirmed that it was and explained that they understood the importance of maintaining Children’s Centres in the borough delivering services, but it was acknowledged the offer was now narrower with a reduced budget. The Sub-Committee heard that the Family Hubs model would provide an opportunity to provide Children’s Centre services through the Family Hub model, and the importance of safeguarding was not underestimated.

The Sub-Committee asked if delivery of the Strategy would be measured and considered on a ward-by-ward basis. The Director of Education stated that it was too early to give details on how reporting would be done, but that the differences across the borough would absolutely be taken into account; it was highlighted that future scrutiny of Family Hubs should involve all of the partners involved in delivering services. Members asked about the delivery of Family Hubs, and the Sub-Committee heard that these would likely be delivered through a mix of virtual and physical offers to suit the needs of residents. The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People explained that this was still at a very early stage, but that they were very positive about the possibilities that delivering the Strategy and Hubs could provide.

The Vice-Chair welcomed the Strategy and asked about the engagement and consultation process. The Director of Education explained that they had already identified gaps in those who had not been engaged in the initial round of consultation, and these groups would be targeted for the next round of engagement. The Sub-Committee asked about measuring the success of the strategy once it was implemented and heard that this would be evidenced by families knowing where they could find support and the implementation of a strong Family Hub model.

The Chair asked about the consistent ‘Remaining Budget’ in Table 1 on page 37 of the agenda; the Director of Education explained that this was because the Strategy was about ensuring the correct objectives and priorities were in place and did not require additional funding.

Conclusions

The Sub-Committee welcomed the report on the Early Years Strategy and the work done so far, and were pleased to see that Croydon was receiving funding to implement a new approach through the Family Hubs model.

The Sub-Committee were of the view that the delivery plan of the Early Years Strategy should be included in the Work Programme for a meeting in 2023.