MANCHESTER'S 39 Sure Start children's centres are to stay open. They'll also now open for longer and cater for children older than pre-school age.
It's hoped that the centres will become the hub of the community, offering a wider range of services to people of all ages, including early years services.
The news has been welcomed by those who campaigned against the closures of the centres, which provide important childcare advice and support for parents.
But the cuts, of 21 per cent of the council’s government grant, means plans to end council-run daycare for under-fives will go ahead as the council still has to save £22.1m from its early years provision.
Instead, there'll be an outreach programme that will see every family of a newborn visited at home by a council worker, who will stay in touch until the child is three. This, it's said, would help identify which families needed extra help and support.
The plans are dues to be considered by the council's executive on 15 February.
The announcement of possible closure to the centres came last year and sparked outrage among families resulting in hundreds of people demonstrated outside Manchester Town Hall.
The plans were drawn up after a three-month consultation involving more than 8,200 meetings with parents, which attracted more than 4,700 written responses with parents, schools, health staff and others.
It's hoped that the centres will become the hub of the community, offering a wider range of services to people of all ages, including early years services.
Some discretionary services will be lost. The £3m cost of keeping the provision going will be met by moving other services – such as Jobcentre Plus, youth and midwifery services – into Sure Start buildings, allowing the council to close other sites. The buildings will be open for longer, with space rented out to community groups.
The council said the 809 council-run daycare places it provides would also be phased out over the next few years.
Parents affected face a rise of between £11 and £37 a week in private daycare costs.
Mike Livingstone, director of children's services, Manchester City Council, said: "Our analysis shows there is already enough good quality and affordable daycare provision across the city being provided by the private, voluntary and independent sector, so over time we will no longer need to provide it ourselves."
"What we do need is to ensure that the right kind of quality daycare is available in the right places, so we're going to spend the next two years making sure this happens."
Remaining resources will be focussed on commissioning daycare for the most needy families and children requiring additional support.
"We'll only stop providing daycare in different parts of the city when we are satisfied that there's enough quality alternative provision to meet the needs of local families.”
Source: BBC NEWS
