Delivering children’s centre services

Case studies

Children’s centres were introduced by the Childcare Act 2006, which placed a duty on local authorities to improve the wellbeing of children from birth to age five in their area and reduce inequalities between them. The Act requires that, as far as possible, ‘sufficient’ children’s centres are provided to meet local need, and that relevant partners work together to make sure services that support young children and their families are integrated.

The financial context for councils has changed significantly in the intervening years. By the end of this decade, English councils will have had to deal with £16 billion of reductions to government grant funding, and 168 councils will not receive any revenue support grant from April 2019. There have also been major policy changes, including:

  • the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum became statutory in 2008, setting standards in learning and welfare for any provider caring for children from birth to five years old
  • responsibility for 0-5 public health transferred to councils on 1 October 2015
  • 15 hours free childcare for three and four year olds was introduced in 2010, extended to 30 hours for children of working parents in 2017
  • free childcare hours for disadvantaged children were introduced in 2014
  • government funding for the Early Intervention Grant has reduced by almost £500 million since 2013 and is projected to drop by a further £183 million by 2020.

The impact of the recession that began in 2008, changes to welfare support and difficulties accessing social and affordable housing have contributed to greater need for family support and advice, while a range of factors has led to the number of children starting on child protection plans each year almost doubling over the last decade.

Funding reductions, increasing demand and a changing policy landscape mean that councils have had to review their children’s centres and the services provided within them to find new, better and more efficient ways of providing services. This has included expanding support to entire families including parents and older children, acknowledging the context in which children grow up and the importance of holistic support.

The case studies within this document outline the approaches taken by eight councils across England, demonstrating just some of the different ways in which councils are tackling the challenge.