The Chancellor surprised everyone when he announced, in his spending review speech last month, that an extra 100m would be made available to create not 1,700 but 2,500 children's centres by 2008. This massive increase of 800 extra centres will still mean only one centre in each of England's 30 per cent most deprived wards.
A children's centre in every community for children from birth to teens and their families, providing a comprehensive and joined-up approach throughout childhood, is a vision that many Nursery World readers share.
These integrated centres will be a focus for all families with children from birth up to 16 years in the local community. They will be bright and accessible places where children of all ages can take part in a wide range of activities - and where children and families can gain information, advice and support. In many cases, the children's centres may be based around a school, depending on the facilities that exist locally.
While the type of building may differ, the range of services on offer in the local centre will have a common core. Children's centres will be community centres for children - known by children and involving children in decision-making. They will be bright, welcoming, interactive and evolving. For each, this will include:
* A range of co-ordinated children's and youth services - these will include nursery, childminder network, out-of-school clubs, play activities, study support and youth activities. Although the activities and provision may not all be based in the same building, they will be co-ordinated, with co-ordinated information and application routes. Each area will have a range of places for disabled children, and will respond to the needs of local communities. The network will take a central and strategic role in providing childcare places for parents who are working or looking for work, and will work with other local partners to bring in funds.
* A resource base - with information, toys and groups for all children, parents and carers of children. The resource base will offer information to children, families and professional childcarers on all aspects of childcare, including child development, health, specialist needs, school and local support services.
* A base for health - including health visitors, children's dentists and clinics, and additional support for children with special needs.
* A centre for consultation and participation with parents and children.
* A base for training childcare staff, parents and others.
Children's centres will be able to offer crucial and visible support to children in the community linking into wider initiatives to:
* promote health and well-being
* reduce crime
* tackle social exclusion and poverty
* support parents into employment and training
* support educational achievement
* build communities.
Vision to reality
Some 10,000 centres would be needed to make that vision a reality - together with a doubling of Government spending on services for children and families from 3.5 to 7bn a year. This would still only bring funding on children and families in England to 0.7 per cent of GDP - compared with the 2 per cent spent in Denmark, or 2.5 per cent in Sweden.
Some of the building blocks are already in place. We now have:
* a commitment and funds for children's centres for birth to fours and their families in each of the 30 per cent most deprived wards (2,500) by 2008
* a programme of extended schools to create flagship 'full service' schools offering childcare and family support.
But the vision of integrated centres for children from birth to teens is a long way from reality. There are still separate:
* funding streams for different age groups
* workforce requirements
* quality frameworks
* management and planning.
Separate funding
Funding streams are still separated by age group, including funding for children's centres for birth to fours and their families in the 20 per cent most disadvantaged wards in the country, extended schools (but it looks as though 80 per cent of these will be in secondary schools), new out-of- school childcare places (for children aged three-plus, 40 per cent for disadvantaged areas), and youth services.
Plus there are funding initiatives for different age groups: Positive Activities for Young People, the Children's Fund (for five- to 13-year-olds), Connexions (for 13- to 19-year-olds).
Separate workforce
Separate qualifications are still required for pre-school, school and out-of-school staff, and for education, health and family support. There are hundreds of different qualifications, separate training programmes and different rates of pay and career structures for each age group of children - united only by low pay and lack of career progression.
Separate quality frameworks
There are different quality frameworks for each age group: the Birth to Three Matters framework for birth to threes, the Foundation Stage for children aged three to the end of Reception year, and a range of Investors in Children accredited quality assurance schemes for other age groups.
Separate planning
Local authorities have to produce a children's centre plan if they have wards in the 20 per cent most disadvantaged, an extended schools plan, a preventative strategy, a children and young people's strategy and many other separate plans.
Separate management
Each of the services that come together in children's centres are currently managed separately: family support services by the voluntary sector, Social Services, Sure Start Partnerships etc; health services by Primary Care Trusts and Mental Health Trusts; pre-school childcare by schools, local authorities, the voluntary sector, and the private sector; out-of-school childcare by schools, voluntary organisations, the private sector and local authorities.
Funding the vision
To achieve the vision of an attractive, welcoming integrated centre for birth to 16s and their families in each community we need simplified funding and far greater integration.
Integrated funding
The funding needs to be simplified into an outcome focused and streamlined 'Children's Fund' for all ages. Bringing the current children's centre (for birth to fours and their families) and extended schools funding together in the Sure Start Unit is a first step in that direction.
Integrated workforce
We need a new children's profession that is skilled in the delivery of integrated opportunities for children, has a common core of skills, knowledge and competencies, and is better valued and better paid.
The Children's Workforce Unit in the DfES is looking at developing that common core - we need to start to pilot training courses that meet the needs of an integrated children's centre workforce immediately.
Integrated quality
Centres for birth to 16s will need an integrated offer that embraces the activities, ethos, and methods of different traditions, bringing together play and learning, care and development, health and education.
The integrated offer would aim for clear outcomes for all ages, for example: achievement and enjoyment, safety, happiness and choice, active participation, competence in the world, and personal and social development.
The quality framework would need to include all services and age groups, and could be brought together in a new integrated Investors in Children quality assurance scheme for children from birth to 16 in children's centres.
Integrated management
At Government level, we now have a Minister for Children, Families and Young People. At local authority level, the Children Bill requires the appointment of a director of children's services. Many local authorities already have one strategic planning group for children's centres for birth to fours and their families and another for extended schools, plus planning structures for children and young people and preventative strategies. One strategic planning group for children's centres for birth to 16s, bringing together education, health, family support and youth services, will be needed to be able to take integrated centres forward.
Children's Trusts may provide a model for that integrated governance, but there will still be a need for integrated management at the children's centre level, with real parent representation and direct input from children and young people.
Integrated planning
At Government level, the infrastructure and all the planning requirements for services for children need to be brought together, resulting in just one plan for local authorities. Each children's centre would then be able to draw up an implementation plan that brings together all the partners in integrated services for children from birth to teens and their families.
Making the vision a reality will transform the lives of children and families.
Sue Finch is head of consultancy at 4Children
