Christine McInnes, Service Head of Education and Partnerships presented her report on Early Years and access – early interventions to improve outcomes for 0-5 year olds.

She apologised to Members for missing the publication deadline due to sections 6-10 of the report not being completed in time but said the report included important contextual information describing the vision for an integrated Early Years’ service. 

She referred Members to pages 2-3 of the report and said it was critical to ensure 0-5 years were supported correctly and at the right time. Key health and social care issues for children in Tower Hamlets and the barriers to accessing services were listed on these pages, with Child Poverty and School readiness being key areas to improve.

Children’s Centres were physically accessible and well distributed across the Borough but there were difficulties in estimating coverage as they do not have access to data on the number of eligible children in their catchment area.

Esther Trenchard-Mabere, Associate Director of Public Health, Commissioning & Strategy said live birth data needs to be shared by hospitals and the integrated system would strengthen that link. She said a more streamlined registration system was required with children automatically registered with Children’s Centres with an ‘opt out’ for families who did not want use the services provided.

Confident, well-informed families made good use of Children’s Centres however identifying vulnerable families and those that need services the most is a challenge. A multi-agency approach was required.

This was followed by questions and comments from the Members, who stated:

·         Members agreed there had to be a stronger link between hospitals and children’s centres.

·         There has been criticism of Children’s centres not reaching out to vulnerable families that need it most. Can you guesstimate the number of families missing out? – Response: Analytical work looking at back data to identify families which fall into this category needs to be undertaken. However other factors such as child poverty, those eligible for school meals and language barriers need to be factored in.

·         If data collection and contact improves, with increased use of Children’s Centres, how and what services will be provided by Children’s Centres? Response: Centres are not fully utilised so we are proposing changes to how they are used. We need to ensure they are open for longer and services are tailored to the people that need it plus ensure we offer a more universal service.

·         Will there be an option for parents who use the centres and who can afford it, to pay for services in order to help support those who need the support? Will this create a two-tier system? Response: These are difficult decisions that will need to be made but we hope we can achieve a balance.

·         For many new mothers the whole experience can be overwhelming. BME communities feel isolated, English is not their first language and they lack confidence to use Children’s Centres. Will the Children’s centres provide an adult offer at their localities? Response: Yes, we are hoping that we can. A pilot project called ‘Better Beginnings’ has been trialled which is peer lead and looks to bring isolated communities into contact with Council services. It needs to be evaluated before it can be rolled out.

There is an integrated employment service provided through the Children Centres.  

The Chair thanked Christine McInnes and Esther Trenchard-Mabere for their presentation and said the sub-committee looked forward to seeing how the integrated Early Years services will be structured once the Council re-organisation had been completed.

The Sub-Committee NOTED the report.