In September 2018, Norfolk County Council Children’s Services launched a consultation on a new Early Childhood and Family Service. There were 1,576 responses to the consultation received, with 1,401 responses from residents and 175 from respondents affiliated with organisations.
We would like to thank you for taking the time to respond and I am writing to you to inform you that as a result of the consultation process we have amended our proposals in the following ways:
· Greater recognition that all families benefit from universal group activities
· Making it easier to access support
· Extending the new service to support families to connect with and make use of activities provided by local communities and partner organisations
· Keeping more buildings to reflect varying local needs in rural and urban areas
· Investing £500,000 to support local organisations and communities to use buildings, currently designated as children’s centres, with a focus on services for families with children aged 0-5
The new service will:
· Provide targeted support for families with children aged 0-5
· Offer help so that all families can connect with local support and universal early childhood activities
· Operate 15 early childhood and family support bases and use a range of local delivery venues
· Contribute to joint working and maintaining partnerships as part of securing a local early childhood offer
· Invest £250,000 in community development to ensure there are strong networks of support
· Support an enhanced online and digital information, advice and guidance offer for families
The Council is committed to ensuring that Norfolk’s most vulnerable children and families receive the support they need and we believe that the revised proposals for the Early Childhood and Family Service will provide a more targeted service.
The papers are available here: http://norfolkcc.cmis.uk.com/norfolkcc/Meetings/tabid/128/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/496/Meeting/1473/Committee/8/Default.aspx
Kind regards
Andrew
Andrew Proctor
Leader
Norfolk County Council