6

COMMITTEE: EXECUTIVE REF NO: E/14/40

DATE: 7 OCTOBER 2014

SUBJECT: CHILDREN’S CENTRES CONSULTATION

(IPSWICH)

PORTFOLIO HOLDER: CLLR SOPHIE MEUDEC

HEAD OF SERVICE: DAVID FIELD

Short description of report content and the decision requested:

Suffolk County Council intends to make some changes to the provision of

Children’s Centres. The two major proposed changes for Ipswich are:

1. To close Quayside Children’s Centre, merging it with Chatterbox

Children’s Centre, Copleston Road, Ipswich.

2. To close Meredith Children’s Centre, merging it with the Wellington

Children’s Centre, 52 Chevallier Street, Ipswich.

A 12-week public consultation ending on 13th October 2014 is required before

any changes can be made. This report sets out the background, local context,

and local issues leading to Ipswich Borough Council’s proposed response.

SCC Cabinet are intending to make their decision on 9th December 2014 with

changes likely to be implemented in April 2015.

Ward(s) affected: All Ipswich wards

List of Appendices included in this report:

a) Appendix 1 – Children’s Centre/ Proposal

b) Appendix 2 – Children in Low Income Families

c) Appendix 3 – Index of Multiple Deprivation Scores (Ipswich)

d) Appendix4 - Average Users / Carers and Costs Ofsted Reports

e) Appendix5 – Ofsted Reports

This report has been prepared by Tibbs Pinter, Tel: 01473 433436,

Email: tibbs.pinter@ipswich.gov.uk

This report was prepared after consultation with:

Internal consultees

Cllr Sophie Meudec, Russell Williams, Helen Pluck, David Field,

Jan Robinson, Carole Williams.

External consultees

The following policies form a context to this report:

(all relevant policies must also be referred to in the body of the report)

Building a Better Ipswich

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS AS REQUIRED BY LAW

(papers relied on to write the report but which are not published and do not contain exempt information)

1. None

OTHER HELPFUL PAPERS

(papers which the report author considers might be helpful – this might include published material)

1. Children’s Centres Review, Suffolk County Council 17th July 2014,

2. Best Practice for a Sure Start: The Way Forward for Children's

Centres. Report from the All Party Parliamentary Sure Start Group July

2013.

_______________________________________________________________ 1. Introduction

1.1 Suffolk County Council (SCC) is responsible for Children’s Centres and

is conducting a public consultation on the future of children’s centres.

1.2 SCC’s consultation document proposes that, of the 47 Children’s Centre Buildings in operation around the County, 9 are to be closed, and 2 of these are in Ipswich. The Quayside Children’s Centre and the Meredith Children’s Centre are proposed for closure. The County consultation emphasis the links between these centres and those at the Chatterbox Children’s Centre and the Wellington Children’s Centre which would remain open.

1.3 SCC highlight the purpose of the changes is as part of a February 2014 budget requirement to make savings of £2.9 million over 4 years. Savings from exiting these buildings are anticipated to be in the region of £220,000 - £290,000. However before exiting, dilapidations costs of up to £160,000 may be charged in the case of leased premises. Owing to lease arrangements and notice periods, savings are likely to be realised in 2015-16. More financial details are set out in sections 2 and 9 and Appendix 4.

1.4 A key part of the consultation and redesign is to consider opportunities for service improvement for both children’s centres and day care. The consultation asserts that Children’s Centre staff can spend a disproportionate amount of time managing the buildings, so for some, SCC expect that time will be released that can be better spent with children and families.

1.5 A public consultation is required before any changes of Children’s Services are undertaken by SCC. The current consultation lasts for 12-weeks and ends on 13th October 2014. This report sets out the background, local context, and local issues for the response to be made by Ipswich Borough Council.

1.6 Following the end of consultation, SCC will present a report to their Cabinet – planned to be 9th December 2014 - with any changes likely to be implemented in April 2015.

2. Background

2.1 Children’s Centres are the responsibility of SCC. They are defined in

Part 1 section 5A of the Childcare Act 2006, as amended by the Apprenticeship, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. The legal definition of a Children’s Centre is a place or group of places:

• managed by, or on behalf of, an English local authority, with a view to securing that early childhood services are made available in an integrated manner;

• through which early childhood services are made available – either by provision of services on site, or by the provision of advice and assistance in gaining access to services elsewhere;

• at which (some) activities for young children are provided on site.

2.2 To be at their most effective, children’s centres should have a clear core purpose, focused on:

• Improving outcomes for young children and their families, with a particular focus on the most disadvantaged families, in order to reduce inequalities in child development and school readiness;

• Supporting improved parenting aspirations, self-esteem and parenting skills, and improved child and family health and life chances.

2.3 Early childhood services provided in Suffolk include:

• Midwifery, Health Visitor and G.P. services;

• Access to information, advice and assistance through the Suffolk Families Information Service;

• Access to early education provided by child-minders, pre-schools, day care and nursery classes;

• Access to family support services such as home visiting services to identify needs and provide appropriate services.

2.4 In 2006, all local authorities were legally contracted to the Sure Start Unit

to create an agreed number of Sure Start Children’s Centres. In Suffolk, 48 Centres were created all but one of which are open and running services for families with children from pre-birth to 5 years.

2.5 SCC therefore directly manages 47 children’s centres throughout Suffolk,

and 12 of these are in Ipswich (see section 9). Substantial changes were made to the centre on Felixstowe Road (now known as ‘East Ipswich’) earlier this year – but according to the County data it remains a Children’s Centre. One children’s centre is managed by the Governing Body of a Local Authority nursery school.

2.6 SCC groups these 47 children’s centres within the Children and Young People’s Integrated Service by non-coterminous geographical boundaries known as localities. These are; West Suffolk, South Suffolk, Ipswich South and West, Ipswich North and East, Coastal, Central and Waveney.

2.7 Each of these service-defined localities is managed by an Integrated Service Manager, in turn managed by the Head of Integrated Service Delivery who reports to the Assistant Director for Early Help and Specialist services at Suffolk County Council.

2.8 All the children’s centres deliver services in line with the same Suffolk County Council service specification, providing services for both prospective and existing parent/carers and their children. The services provided must:

• meet the needs of children from pre‐birth to 5 years and their families

• relate very closely to the needs of the community reach profile of the locality served by the centre.

• target the largest resource to the highest need, whilst ensuring appropriate universal

• have provision that is accessible for all

• have a ‘no wrong door’ ethos

• develop independence rather than dependency

• ensure that the ‘hard‐to‐reach’ are never out of reach

2.9 SCC has stated that it is committed to continuing to provide Children’s Centre Services across the county that are accessible to all families with young children by adopting the following principles:

• To fully integrate Health Visiting and Children’s Centres Services creating a seamless service for families with young children, in the Suffolk NHS area

• To build on the work we already do with Libraries to deliver more services from Libraries

• To use buildings for day care where that would be a more appropriate use

• To get out of buildings that are under‐used and/or expensive and/or in poor condition.

2.10 SCC has identified that not all of the Children’s Centres buildings are well

used. They consider some are very expensive to run; some are in poor condition; and some would better meet the needs of their communities by being used for day care.

2.11 SCC also considers that many of the children’s centres services are delivered from community premises and families’ homes as these better meet the needs of these communities.

2.12 In the future therefore, SCC intends to:

• Rationalise the children centre building assets where this makes sense for those communities.

• Realign the services to ensure that every community retains access to universal children’s centres services.

• Target the additional support to those families who need it most, irrespective of where they live.

• Keep the structure of a countywide service delivered through Children and Young People Services.

• Provide service to ensure that there is consistency in approach to service delivery across the whole of Suffolk and delivered in the way that the families find most beneficial.

• Rationalise the staffing structures to ensure an efficient service that offers the public best value for money.

• Maximise the partnership working; linking with health colleagues and

others to further develop multi‐agency teams offering support to children and families pre‐birth to 19.

2.13 An overall saving of £2.9m has been set for Children’s Centres as part of

the budget savings review for Suffolk County Council in 2013. A savings target of £1.5m was set for 2014-15. Of this, £1.25m has already been identified from recurrent under spends on pay and non-pay budgets, uncommitted corporate funds, and efficiencies from bringing commissioned centres back in house.

2.14 This left a balance of £250k to find for 2014/15. An additional £1.4m saving is required from 2015 – 2018, £1.0m in 15/16, then £0.2m in each of the following two years.

2.15 SCC expects the savings from exiting the identified Children’s Centres be in the region of £220,000 - £290,000. However before exiting, dilapidations costs of up to £160,000 may be charged in the case of leased premises. Dilapidations costs are expected to be in the region of £100,000.

2.16 The centres to merge were chosen through a process of Suffolk County Council identifying those cases where:

• Existing buildings were underutilised

• There were high and unsustainable running costs,

• Local needs could be reasonably met by utilising other local facilities and working within the community.

2.17 The redesign includes considering opportunities for additional and/or

more local venues to be rented to deliver the same type and nature of service that is currently delivered from children’s centre buildings. This is expected to increase the potential for outreach and possibly visiting families’ homes. This will assist with some of the transport challenges that isolated families face.

2.18 The rationale that SCC state for closing the Meredith and the Quayside Children’s Centres is to save the costs of running the premises on the basis that suitable alternatives are nearby. Suffolk County Council has also stated a commitment to providing other outreach services that would be delivered from community venues across the town, such as the Library in Northgate Street.

3. Relevant Policies

3.1 Building a Better Ipswich underlying principle 1: A Fairer Ipswich.

4. Options Considered / Under Consideration

4.1 The Suffolk Public Consultation is available in two formats to meet the

needs of Families, or Professionals, and are available from the website: http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/your-council/decision-making/consultations/consultation-children-s-centre-services-across-suffolk/

The Professionals’ survey asks a number of questions, which are detailed below along with the proposed response by Ipswich Borough Council.

4.2 Q1. Having read the consultation document, do you agree with

Suffolk County Council's overall proposal?

4.3 No, Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) does not agree with Suffolk County Council’s proposal in respect of the Children’s Centres in Ipswich. The Council does not agree because:

• Both of the Children’s Centres in Ipswich scheduled to close following the proposed mergers are in neighbourhoods that are in the most deprived areas in the Country.

• Both of the Children’s Centres in Ipswich scheduled to close are well attended. This raises additional concerns that the proposed alternative centres may not have the capacity to deal with increased numbers.

• The changes do not appear to produce significant financial benefits in light of the impact of removing these community assets from these neighbourhoods.

• The closures will also inevitably mean that fewer of those families that are most in need will access services because of the travelling distance

4.4 IBC want to highlight the significant proportion of the County’s children

with the highest need that reside within the town of Ipswich: 5,770 (29%) of Children under 16 and 6,450 (28.9%) of all children under 20 in low income families in Suffolk live in Ipswich (appendix 2). There are 18 (21%) Lower Super Output Areas in Ipswich which are in the 15% of most deprived areas in England (Appendix 3).

4.5 There needs to be clarity of maintaining the ‘core purpose’ of Children’s Centres in the areas of most need for the long-term future (20 years plus) as ‘to improve outcomes for young children and their families and reduce inequalities between families in the greatest need and their peers in:

• Child development and school readiness;

• Parenting aspirations and parenting skills; and

• Child and family health and life chances.

4.6 Q2. In what capacity do you work with Suffolk Children’s Centre Service?

4.7 There are a number of ways that Ipswich Borough Council works closely with Children’s Centres:

• As elected councillors for local wards.

• As an Area Committee providing local solutions and responses.

• As a statutory provider of services including housing.

• As a provider as leisure and sport facilities and events.

• As the Local Authority which can, where possible, provide local leadership, link local services, and develop efficiencies such as joined-up back office services.

4.8 Ipswich Borough Council’s Senior Parenting Officer runs parenting programmes such as “Triple P (0-11)”, the “Parenting Hub” and the

“Parents are People” confidence building programme in the Children’s Centres in Ipswich. These are part of an active programme to reduce ASB and other crime, but have recently been supported by the Health and Wellbeing Board.

4.9 Q3. In your role do you currently signpost your families to Children’s Centre Service?

4.10 Yes. Whilst the question implies a one-way signposting TO Children’s Centre Services, it must be recognised that, where appropriate, signposting Children’s Centre users to other support services delivered by partner organisations remains equally important.

Suffolk County Council is obliged under the Children Act 1989 to identify the number of children in need in Suffolk and also to support those families. This provides a framework for identifying those in need in Ipswich, which could be utilised to ensure appropriate local community services are developed. It would also enable the most vulnerable local children and families to be put in contact with children’s centres from other services, thereby ensuring that every intervention counts.

4.11 IBC officers refer parents to Children Centres on a regular basis. For example, there are four key ways that children’s centres play a role in supporting families with the lowest Incomes: 1. Linking parents to employment information and support; and providing training/volunteering opportunities.

2. Provision of high quality childcare or supporting parents to access local childcare.

3. Practical support for low income parents – debt advice, money saving tips, cooking from scratch, cooking and eating together at the Centre, toy libraries, provision of free activities.

4.12 Ipswich Borough Council’s Senior Parenting Officer works actively in the

community and refers and introduces parents to their local Children’s Centres on a regular basis to access their programmes and support. Many parents have been able to access the “Side by Side funding” to provide child care for those families attending a parenting programme in Ipswich who are unable to fund child care for themselves.

4.13 Q4. If you answered the previous question as yes, which Children’s

Centre Services to you signpost to?

4.14 IBC refers to all local children’s centres.

4.15 Factors which underpin the Children’s Centres IBC refer to include:

• They identify the most vulnerable target families and their needs.

• They focus on development of parenting skills.

• They work in partnership with other agencies.

• They work locally to actively contribute to local improvement and development.

• They successfully draw on the views of local children and families.

• They make good use of data, and don’t rely on anecdotal evidence.

• They are focused on the child’s progress and show families where parents are better able to engage in parenting as a result of their intervention.

• They have a good understanding of local childcare provision.

• They continue to track children and family outcomes when they leave – e.g. when children start school.

4.16 IBC also recognises the importance of children’s development from the

point of conception to age two, and supports the need for Children’s Centres to:

• Intervene earlier to promote infant mental health and reduce the risk of child development being hampered by abuse, neglect, and parent-infant relationship difficulties.

• Develop preventative interventions rather than reactive ones for addressing local problems, and particularly in the areas of most need.

• Ensure full delivery of the Healthy Child Programme.

• Intensify targeted integrated work including midwives, health visitors, and financial inclusion officers.

• Improve information sharing between professionals working with hard pressed families to facilitate earlier intervention.

• Introduce modules on child development in pregnancy and early infancy into all health and early-years practitioners’ training and development, to build awareness of how the first two years are critical to later life outcomes.

4.17 IBC agrees with the importance of Children’s Centres to effectively reach

families with children at the earliest possible opportunity in order to have the most significant positive impact. Centres can help support and promote key parenting behaviours which are increasingly recognised as important for future development. These include:

• Smoking and alcohol cessation during pregnancy

• Breast feeding

• Secure attachment

• Responsive parenting

• Talking and communication 4.18 Working with families earlier on can also support the early identification

of post-natal depression.

4.19 Centres that provide a toy library are also beneficial for Ipswich. These are facilities that allow children to borrow toys from the Centre, as they would borrow books from a library. This gives children access to a range of educational and developmental toys without having to purchase them.

4.20 Q5. What level of impact do you think there would be from the

suggested changes?

4.21 Ipswich Borough Council is concerned the changes will have a large impact on the ability of families to access services. For example, the merging of Meredith Children’s Centre with Chevalier Street will increase

the possible distance of travel up-to 2-miles rather than 1-mile as suggested.

4.22 Both Meredith and Quayside Children’s Centres are in neighbourhoods that are in the most deprived 15% of Lower Super Output Areas in the Country. The changes do not appear to produce significant financial benefits in the light of removing community assets from these neighbourhoods.

4.23 The Meredith Children’s Centre provides access to early learning and childcare, and a full library service, as well as the services also available at Quayside of effective links with Jobcentre Plus, a base for childminder networking, child and family health services, support for children and parents with special needs, and family support and parental outreach services. Ipswich Borough Council is highly concerned that removing these services from very local access will effectively push the consequences and additional costs onto other local public services in the area and increase their costs. As a result, there would be no real savings in terms of the Total Place spending.

4.24 The core purpose of Children’s Centres should remain that of supporting all children within their families and communities. Changes must ensure that there is increased equality of access and particularly for those most disadvantaged.

4.25 Those Centres that are least structurally integrated have been shown to rely more heavily on the quality of individual relationships between staff in different agencies and are highly vulnerable to changes in staff, or indeed location. This suggests that the families most affected are those most in need of the services.

4.26 Those most disadvantaged families need simple access to a comprehensible and accessible system, not just a series of individual services. Therefore maintaining the physical presence in an area can provide the hub for a whole range of successful partnership working, which has been demonstrated in Ipswich.

4.27 There will be a lack of visible presence that will limit the Centre’s ability to fully understand or identify the neediest families in their communities and to recognise the need to offer minority groups distinct and finely tuned services. The impact is therefore the service is further downgraded and severely limits the centre’s ability to be:

• A neutral space.

• Independent from other services that may be regarded as threatening to some families.

• A Drop-in space leads to further engagement with other services.

• A social space where parents can build networks.

• A link to other services / training available for parents. 4.28 It is important to note that the Wellington Children’s Centre is a very

small building and is already well used. How will the centre cope with the

additional people /activities from the Meredith Children’s Centre? The impact does not make sense in terms of the usage and cost per user of Meredith and Quayside compared to other children’s centres not being closed.

4.29 How will families that already use the services at the Meredith and Quayside Children’s Centres be supported in the move to the alternative centres? This may be a particular issue for families that are vulnerable or require additional support.

4.30 There is high concern about the level of services in the future as a result of further cuts in the pipeline.

4.31 Children’s Centres will be crucial for ensuring that eligible parents take full advantage of the new offer of 15 hours of free childcare for two year olds. There are clear benefits for both children and their families from high quality childcare and in particular this will offer the opportunity for many parents to begin the journey back into the labour market, which is important for many parents in Ipswich.

4.32 Q6. Are there any further comments/suggestions you would like to make?

4.33 Where is the evidence of an equality impact assessment for those

centres that are closing and the impact on those remaining (in particular for Quayside)?

4.34 Ipswich Borough Council is particularly keen to ensure support is available for groups that are culturally diverse or may have a minority representation. 17% (22,800) of Ipswich residents are from BME communities, which is almost the number of residents of a town the size of Felixstowe.

4.35 9% (399) of the total lone parent population (4,305) are males. Helping fathers access parenting support is important as high quality (sensitive/supportive) and substantial Father involvement from the month following birth is connected with a range of positive outcomes in babies and toddlers, in including higher IQ’s at 12 months and three years and ‘School readiness’ in young children is associated with high levels of Fathers ‘sensitivity, in addition to Mothers sensitivity. Helping Fathers as well as Mothers to respond to infant cues and develop quality interactions with their babies/toddlers and pre-schoolers is very important.’

4.36 Centres must be able to maintain a detailed understanding of their area and local communities which is regularly updated and comprehensive. They should therefore be linked with their local Area Committees and Neighbourhood Partnership Groups to maximise the local area coordination.

4.37 With Area Committees, Children Centres can be at the hub of local community decision making re integration of services, identification of diverse needs, and local funding.

4.38 Effective neighbourhood level connections help local centres and

services respond more appropriately to local needs. Local centres mean that parents, in the areas that they live, have the ability to get more involved and become co-creative stakeholders as well as discerning consumers of the services they receive.

4.39 There is enormous potential to do more locally to support social networks, friendships and to create local communities of interest. As a result, Children’s Centres should be supported to become firmly rooted in their communities. They should link with their Area Committee to create and sustain strong supportive neighbourhood relationships for people to draw on.

4.40 Local agencies working together under the constitution of the Area Committees could share data to maximise operational efficiencies and parent and child outcomes. This joined up approach would help effectively target local planning, health and social services, and assist the ability of centres to monitor their work effectively and to track the difference they are making.

4.41 The period from conception to age two provides a critical opportunity to achieve the best outcomes for children. This requires a joined up local approach that is driven by local communities. Ipswich Borough Council considers it essential that Children’s Centres continue to provide advice, support and additional services to all families with children under 11.

4.42 Access to high quality, affordable childcare is an important factor supporting parental employment ambitions and determining whether or not families are better off in work and are lifted out of poverty. This is equally true for parents with pre-school and school aged children. Children’s Centres have a key role to play in this – whether providing childcare directly, where appropriate, or supporting parents to access quality provision elsewhere.

4.43 Children’s Centres also need to find ways that mean they will not need to charge for services or activities. For example, providing advice/signposting on issues like debt, housing, benefits etc.

4.44 Types of additional services Children’s Centres could offer to parents that would benefit local Ipswich communities (and the national % of centres that provide these):

• Benefits and tax credits advice 74%

• Teenage parents – get into work or training 52%

• Basic IT and job skills course 49%

• Jobcentre Plus advice 42%

• Jobcentre Plus appointment only 35%

• Jobcentres Plus 34%

• Next Steps 30%

• Women’s back to work support 28%

• Adult education for parents

• Adult learning 87%

• ESOL 48%

• Further education 30%

• Life coaching 16% 4.45 There are also opportunities to help with local financial inequality where

the richest families can contribute to services to underwrite some of the costs so that the poorest can benefit.

5. Consultations

5.1 SCC is conducting a public consultation, the key dates for which are:

21st July – 13th October 2014: Public consultation

9th December 2014: Cabinet April 2015: If approved, changes would begin to be implemented

6. Risk Management

Risk Description

Consequence of risk

Risk Controls

Probability of risk occurring taking account of controls (scale 1-6) 1 – almost impossible 6 – very high

Impact of risk, if it occurred taking account of actions (scale 1 – negligible; 4 –catastrophic)

Actions to mitigate risk

1. Failure to respond to SCC’s consultation process

The views of Ipswich Borough Council would not be considered by SCC in finalising their strategy

Limited at present.

1 3 Ensure a response is provided to SCC prior to 13th October 2014

7. Environmental Impact Assessment

7.1 No adverse environmental impact is associated with this report.

8. Equalities and Diversity Implications

8.1 SCC will be undertaking a full equality impact assessment before making

their decision regarding Children’s Centres.

8.2 In formulating the Borough Council response consideration should be given to equality and diversity issues that the Council is aware of associated with this service and / or the specific geographic localities affected. For example: Some groups, such as fathers, disabled parents

or those with disabled children, face particular problems in attending centres. Ofsted also reported that “Many children’s centres report that they are less successful in reaching families suffering from ‘hidden needs’ like domestic violence, lone parents and teenage parents.

9. Financial Considerations

9.1 There are no direct financial implications from responding to the

consultation from SCC.

9.2 Budgets (within SCC) for each of the Ipswich Children’s Centres (2012/13-2014/15) are shown below:

2012/13 2013/14 2014/15

Var 2014/15 :

2013/14

Chatterbox1

£74,005 £95,115 £90,254 -£4,861

East Ipswich (former Ormiston) £173,253 £173,253 £129,005 -£44,248

Hawthorn £180,890 £182,291 £145,349 -£36,942

Highfield £194,909 £195,053 £170,130 -£24,923

Hillside £172,386 £174,740 £160,502 -£14,238

Meredith2

£243,125 £246,857 £199,418 -£47,439

Quayside1

£201,041 £186,701 £155,155 -£31,546

Ravenswood £153,928 £176,387 £164,538 -£11,849

The Willows £213,604 £216,207 £197,472 -£18,735

Tree House £283,779 £268,509 £185,303 -£83,206

Wellington2

£235,450 £237,807 £216,296 -£21,511

Wooden House £126,300 £122,043 £103,129 -£18,914

-£358,412

Total Suffolk £8,743,606 £8,784,021 £7,204,966 -£1,579,055

Average for Suffolk £182,158 £183,000 £150,103 -£32,897

Notes: 1 – Chatterbox/Quayside centres proposed to merge 2 – Meredith/Wellington centres proposed to merge

2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18

TOTAL Funding

Suffolk Children's

Centres

£8,743,606 £8,784,021 £7,204,966 £6,204,966 £6,004,966 £5,804,966

10. Legal Considerations

10.1 There are no direct Legal considerations with regard to responding to the

consultation document.

11. Performance Monitoring

11.1 Children’s Centres are not a function of Ipswich Borough Council and

therefore there are no statutory performance requirements.

11.2 For information, Ofsted results for the Centres within Ipswich are shown in Appendix 5.

12. Conclusions

12.1 This repost has considered the proposals contained within SCC’s

consultation on Children’s Centres and has proposed a draft response (section 4) for consideration by Executive.

13. Recommendations

13.1 That Executive authorises the Head of Resource Management, in

consultation with the Leader and the Portfolio Holder for Community, Revenues and Benefits, to:

• submit the proposed response in Section 4 of this report, subject to any changes made by Executive, to Suffolk County Council before the end of the consultation period on 13 October 2014.

Reason: To ensure that Suffolk County Council receive the views of Ipswich Borough Council prior to the end of the formal consultation window.

APPENDIX 1 Children’s Centre/ Proposal – The County Council Summary for Ipswich

Hawthorn Children's Centre Chantry Library Hawthorn Drive Ipswich Suffolk IP2 0QY

No proposed changes.

Hillside Children's Centre Maidenhall Approach Ipswich Suffolk IP2 8NY

No proposed changes.

Willows Children's Centre Magdalene Close IPSWICH Suffolk IP2 9UX

No proposed changes.

East Ipswich Children's Centre Based at: Tree House Children's Centre 251 Clapgate Lane Ipswich Suffolk IP3 0RH

No proposed changes.

Tree House Children's Centre 251 Clapgate Lane Ipswich Suffolk IP3 0RH

No proposed changes.

Ravenswood Children's Centre 103 Hening Avenue Ipswich Suffolk IP3 9QJ

No proposed changes.

Wooden House Children's Centre 20b Lanark Road Ipswich Suffolk IP4 3EJ

No proposed changes.

Chatterbox Children's Centre North Ipswich Children's Centre School House Copleston Road Ipswich Suffolk IP4 5HB

See Quayside Children's Centre.

Quayside Children's Centre Suffolk New College Campus Back Hamlet Entrance Long Street Off Back Hamlet Ipswich IP4 1QJ

To merge Quayside Children’s Centre with Chatterbox Children’s Centre, Copleston Road, Ipswich. Quayside is currently located in a room in a day nursery at Suffolk New College. Due to its location and size the centre is not able to deliver a full range of services to meet the needs of families in the area. Children’s centre staff already provide high quality support to families in their own homes. In addition some services are delivered from local community venues, such as the Reg Driver Centre in Christchurch Park. There are two other children’s centres (Wellington and Chatterbox) about a mile away from Quayside which many families are already

using to access services. If this proposal is agreed, other services would be delivered from community venues across the town centre, such as the Library in Northgate Street, all within walking distance of the current centre location.

Meredith Children’s Centre Meredith Road Ipswich Suffolk IP1 6ED

To merge Meredith Children’s Centre with the Wellington Children’s Centre, 52 Chevallier Street, Ipswich. However, it is proposed that some early years services will continue to be delivered from the existing Meredith site. Costs relating to the current Meredith Children’s Centre are around £30,000 per year. Therefore with a number of other children’s centres in the area (Highfield, Bramford Lane and Wellington Children’s Centres) it is proposed that the current building is no longer used as a children’s centre. Families would only need to travel a minimum of a third of a mile and a maximum distance of a mile to access another centre. Many families who use Meredith already use other local children’s centres. Outreach venues in the area would be used so more services can be delivered across a wider area, including rural areas where there is currently no delivery.

Wellington Children's Centre 52 Chevallier Street Ipswich Suffolk IP1 2PB

See Meredith Children’s Centre.

Highfield Children's Centre Chesterfield Drive Ipswich Suffolk IP1 6DW

No proposed changes.

APPENDIX 2

Children in Low In Low Income Families (February 2014) Source: HMRC http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/*/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/child-poverty/local-authority.xls

Children in IS/JSA

families

Children in families

receiving WTC and CTC, and income <60% median income

Children in families receiving CTC only, and income <60% median income

Children in families in receipt of CTC (<60% median

income) or IS/JSA

Children in Child Benefit families

% of Children in low-income families

Under 16

All

Children Under 16

All

Children Under 16

All

Children Under 16

All

Children Under 16

All

Children Under 16 All Children

Ipswich 4,635 5,115 345 425 795 910 5,770 6,450 25,625 29,760 22.5% 21.7%

Waveney 3,485 3,860 300 375 560 645 4,340 4,880 19,615 23,295 22.1% 20.9%

Forest Heath 985 1,065 120 155 215 250 1,320 1,465 8,605 9,855 15.4% 14.9%

Rest of Suffolk 10,475 11,590 1,185 1,490 2,370 2,755 14,030 15,835 99,325 117,555 14.1% 13.5%

Babergh 1,395 1,540 190 240 370 440 1,960 2,225 15,150 17,995 12.9% 12.4%

St Edmundsbury 1,735 1,915 175 210 400 475 2,310 2,600 19,075 22,355 12.1% 11.6%

Suffolk Coastal 1,670 1,885 255 330 455 525 2,380 2,740 20,225 24,275 11.8% 11.3%

Mid Suffolk 1,205 1,325 145 180 370 420 1,720 1,925 16,655 19,780 10.3% 9.7%

Norwich 5,240 5,770 310 380 705 815 6,250 6,965 21,790 24,935 28.7% 27.9%

Luton 9,050 10,315 1,035 1,360 1,750 2,065 11,840 13,745 47,640 54,845 24.9% 25.1%

Ipswich 4,635 5,115 345 425 795 910 5,770 6,450 25,625 29,760 22.5% 21.7%

Harlow 3,135 3,480 200 245 495 590 3,830 4,320 17,705 20,490 21.6% 21.1%

England 1,620,865 1,825,090 139,415 180,505 266,185 313,855 2,026,465 2,319,450 9,855,830 11,537,505 20.6% 20.1%

Gloucester 3,995 4,470 250 305 645 730 4,885 5,500 24,630 28,715 19.8% 19.2%

Colchester 4,170 4,615 250 325 850 1,010 5,275 5,950 31,580 36,930 16.7% 16.1%

Exeter 2,360 2,600 190 230 445 530 2,995 3,360 18,525 21,540 16.2% 15.6%

Cambridge 2,005 2,210 155 200 395 465 2,555 2,875 16,270 18,745 15.7% 15.3%

Suffolk 15,110 16,705 1,530 1,915 3,165 3,665 19,800 22,285 124,950 147,315 15.8% 15.1%

Notes: Children in IS/JSA families: Number of children living in families in receipt of Income Support or Income-Based Jobseekers Allowance Children in families receiving WTC and CTC, and income <60% median income: Number of children living in families in receipt of both Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit whose reported income is less than 60 per cent of median income Children in families receiving CTC only, and income <60% median income: Number of children living in families receiving Child Tax Credit only whose reported income is less than 60 per cent of median income Children in families in receipt of CTC (<60% median income) or IS/JSA: Number of children living in families in receipt of Child Tax Credit whose reported income is less than 60 per cent of the median income or in receipt of Income Support or Income-Based Jobseekers Allowance % of Children in low-income families: Number of children living in families in receipt of CTC whose reported income is less than 60 per cent of the median income or in receipt of IS or (Income-Based) JSA, divided by the total number of children in the area (determined by Child Benefit data) Under 16: Children aged under 16 All Children: All dependent children under the age of 20

Appendix 3

Notes: These figures combine values of many indicators into a single score that indicates the overall level of deprivation in each LSOA. A high number indicates a high level of deprivation.

15% of LSOAs in England have an IMD score higher than 40 25% of LSOAs in England have an IMD score higher than 30 43% of LSOAs in England have an IMD score higher than 20 74% of LSOAS in England have an IMD score higher than 10

Resident Population of Children in Ipswich (Census 2011)

North

West

% North

East

% Central % South

West

% South

East

% Ipswich % Rest of

Suffolk %

East of

England % England %

All Usual

Residents 24,381 24,513 27,514 31,394 25,582 133,384 594,779 5,846,965 53,012,456

Age 0 to 4 1,556 6.4 1,579 6.4 1,859 6.8 2,192 7.0 2,064 8.1 9,250 6.9 32,976 5.5 361,269 6.2 3,318,449 6.3

Age 5 to 9 1,402 5.8 1,505 6.1 1,477 5.4 1,641 5.2 1,605 6.3 7,630 5.7 31,866 5.4 328,512 5.6 2,972,632 5.6

Total 2,958 12.1 3,084 12.6 3,336 12.1 3,833 12.2 3,669 14.3 16,880 12.7 64,842 10.9 689,781 11.8 6,291,081 11.9

Average Users / Carers and Costs APPENDIX 4

Total

Carers

Total

Children Total

Average

Monthly

Carers

and

Children

Average

Cost All

Users

Average

Monthly

Cost All

Users District

1 Roman Hill 868 771 1639 137 £95.45 £13,037 Waveney

2 Village Rise 1414 1433 2847 237 £54.95 £13,037 Waveney

3 On Track 1848 1967 3815 318 £47.45 £15,085 St Edmundsbury

4 Cherry Blossom 2434 2502 4936 411 £42.33 £17,412 Babergh

5 Cartwheels 2693 2036 4729 394 £35.14 £13,847 St Edmundsbury

6 Sea Breeze 2460 2271 4731 394 £34.13 £13,456 Suffolk Coastal

7 The Willows 3240 2938 6178 515 £31.96 £16,456 Ipswich

8 Riverside 3051 2599 5650 471 £30.71 £14,460 Waveney

9 Jigsaw 1964 2430 4394 366 £29.31 £10,734 Mid Suffolk

10 The Ark 3184 2634 5818 485 £26.92 £13,054 Waveney

11 Wooden House 1945 2185 4130 344 £24.97 £8,594 Ipswich

12 Hawthorn 3014 2894 5908 492 £24.60 £12,112 Ipswich

13 Wellington 4355 4533 8888 741 £24.34 £18,025 Ipswich

14 Ravenswood 3530 3296 6826 569 £24.10 £13,712 Ipswich

15 East Ipswich 3050 2618 5668 472 £22.76 £10,750 Ipswich

16 Meredith 4451 4319 8770 731 £22.74 £16,618 Ipswich

17 Leiston 2868 3161 6029 502 £22.57 £11,340 Suffolk Coastal

18 Quayside 3802 3140 6942 579 £22.35 £12,930 Ipswich

19 Hillside 3625 3880 7505 625 £21.39 £13,375 Ipswich

20 Kirkley 5802 5465 11267 939 £20.95 £19,667 Waveney

21 Hardwick 3561 2236 5797 483 £20.84 £10,067 St Edmundsbury

22 Bluebells 2872 2862 5734 478 £20.71 £9,896 St Edmundsbury

23 High Suffolk 3144 3446 6590 549 £19.84 £10,893 Mid Suffolk

24 Woodlands 2342 2916 5258 438 £19.65 £8,609 Babergh

25 Treehouse 4987 4728 9715 810 £19.07 £15,442 Ipswich

26 Brett River 3524 3607 7131 594 £18.59 £11,049 Babergh

27 Meadow 3455 3775 7230 603 £18.30 £11,024 Suffolk Coastal

28 Robins 2985 3189 6174 515 £17.38 £8,943 Mid Suffolk

29 Sunshine 3340 3777 7117 593 £17.06 £10,115 Mid Suffolk

30 Caterpillar 3567 3810 7377 615 £16.98 £10,438 Suffolk Coastal

31 Reydon & Southwold 2808 3267 6075 506 £16.20 £8,200 Waveney

32 Lark 4577 4846 9423 785 £16.12 £12,661 Forest Heath

33 Eye 3876 4233 8109 676 £16.04 £10,839 Mid Suffolk

34 Acorns 4760 4166 8926 744 £15.50 £11,529 Mid Suffolk

35 The Oaks 6559 5278 11837 986 £15.45 £15,237 Suffolk Coastal

36 Cornfields 4401 5118 9519 793 £14.81 £11,747 Babergh

37 Highfield 5924 5920 11844 987 £14.36 £14,178 Ipswich

38 Carousel 4271 3695 7966 664 £14.06 £9,330 St Edmundsbury

39 Bury Library 4022 3894 7916 660 £13.91 £9,173 St Edmundsbury

1

40 Brandon 3455 4070 7525 627 £13.52 £8,478 Forest Heath

41 Chatterbox 3168 3655 6823 569 £13.23 £7,521 Ipswich

42 Phoenix 6820 6310 13130 1094 £13.01 £14,240 Babergh

43 Uplands 4557 4636 9193 766 £12.89 £9,873 Waveney

44 Dragonflies 4557 4964 9521 793 £12.01 £9,531 Waveney

45 Rendlesham 3897 4417 8314 693 £11.90 £8,244 Suffolk Coastal

46 Kesgrave 5172 4783 9955 830 £11.30 £9,373 Suffolk Coastal

47 Foley House 5744 6985 12729 1061 £10.55 £11,193 Forest Heath

48 Butterflies 8015 7403 15418 1285 £8.94 £11,485 Waveney

2

APPENDIX 5 Ofsted Results

Overall

Effectiveness

Access

to

Services

Quality

of

Practices

Effectiveness

of

Leadership

Chatterbox No Ofsted Report Available

East Ipswich (former Ormiston) 2012 3 3 3 3

Hawthorn 2014 3 3 3 3

Highfield 2013 2 2 2 2

Hillside 2014 3 3 3 3

Meredith 2012 3 3 3 3

Quayside 2013 3 3 3 3

Ravenswood 2014 3 3 3 3

The Willows 2012 2 2 2 1

Tree House 2011 2 2 2 2

Wellington 2012 3 3 3 3

Wooden House 2012 2 2 2 2

Combined Good & Outstanding

Ipswich Average

36% 36% 36% 36%

National 2012 69% 72% 74% 71%

Key

Outstanding 1

Satisfactory 3

Good 2

Inadequate 4