Agenda item

The Chair and other members of the task and finish group reported that they had been impressed by the services offered at the centres they had visited and the quality of the staff involved.  In particular, Members had observed the value of range of integrated support for families well beyond the development of the children involved.  The recommendations of the group focused on:

·  The maintenance standards for the buildings from which the services operated.

·  The alignment with Heathrow Airport, particularly in relation to the Vicarage Way site and in terms of employment opportunities.

·  The value of extending the current offer beyond the current age threshold of 8.

·  The development of relationships with partners and the options for other services, such as local libraries delivering satellite services. 

·  The scope for generating new income through the hire of accommodation to offer complementary services.

Members of the Panel raised a number of points in discussion, as follows:

·  Councillors should demonstrate support for the centres and their staff by continuing their visits periodically.

·  It would be important to maintain the centre buildings to a good standard.

·  Businesses, including those connected with Heathrow, should be actively encouraged to support the work of the centres, in part in compensation for the impact of the airport’s operation on the learning of young children.

·  The centres could assist in addressing the tendency of parents with children in maintained nursery schools opting out of the extended childcare offer which was having an impact on the total resources available locally since funding was based on the number of children involved.

The Panel agreed to receive a report monitoring the work of the centres every two years.

In response to the suggestion that there should be a further report considering data available on childcare take-up, the Chair proposed that this be discussed in relation to the future programme (see 8 below). 

Resolved –

That the recommendations of the Task and Finish Group be approved and adopted, as follows:

1)  Maintain the standard of buildings with regular checking of facilities.

2)  Ensure the relationship with Heathrow is developed to support Children’s Centres in the surrounding area.

3)  Investigate the cost of extending the offer to children and families across higher phases in Slough.

4)  Build on the excellent relationships with delivery partners to extend and consolidate the offer.

5)  Explore further the opportunities for other agencies to operate out of children’s centres (e.g. libraries) to deliver satellite services.

6)  Establish more formal opportunities for children’s centres to generate additional income by letting out parts of the building in a manner which does not impact on service delivery or compromise safeguarding arrangements.