Leadership of Staffordshire children's centres 'lacks vision'
The management of children's centres in Staffordshire has come under fire with a report revealing a 'frustrating lack of leadership and vision'.
Bosses plan to cater for the rest in community centres, village halls or even at home. An eight-week consultation into the proposals is due to start next month.
Now a county council committee which launched its own review of children's centres to 'inform' the planned shake-up has revealed apparent failures into the management of children's centres.
It shows that some support teams have moved their bases out of children's centres, leaving leaving large office space unused.
One children's centre was left completely empty after the private childcare provider pulled out due to the cost of using the building.
Other organisations have also ended their contracts because of the rising hire costs.
See also: £200k to improve family services in West Midlands.
The report is the work if the communities select committee whose members made it their business to visit all the children's centres in their areas, including those based in schools and libraries, after children's leader Councillor Mike Lawrence announced his intention to review early years' revision.
The report said the district children's commissioning leads were doing the best they could but some of it was not good enough.
The report said: "Frustrations were expressed about the lack of strategic leadership and vision for children's centres across Staffordshire."
It also said centre usage had fallen 'significantly' following staff moves and budget cuts which had led to services being dropped. It added: "Members saw large unused spaces."
See also: Ofsted chiefs: More Staffordshire centres require improvement.
The review said the district children's commissioners had seen their budget slashed by a third in the last two years – while a further £1.5 million savings still needed to be made by the end of next March.
Announcing the shake-up earlier this month, Councillor Lawrence argued that only a quarter of families are benefiting from the current early years service and only a quarter of these target vulnerable families. It is felt facilities based in existing centres in the community would be better used.
Cannock Chase's children's centre is expected to remain but Hednesford, Huntington and Norton Canes face being transferred to schools. And in South Staffordshire, Featherstone Children's Centre would be transferred to Whitgreave Primary School while senior councillors will review the site in Kinver before making a decision.
