£2 million to aid Leicestershire’s children’s centres

Leicestershire County Council is planning to invest £2 million, raised through council tax, in a new Family Wellbeing Service to help keep more children’s centres open.

The new service brings together children’s centres, Supporting Leicestershire Families (SLF), Youth Offending Service (YOS) and Information, Support and Assessment teams into one new-style service, meaning six more centres remaining open than originally proposed.

The council plans for the new Family Wellbeing Service to operate from 21 buildings across the county and support vulnerable children aged 0-19 and their families, reducing costs by £1.5 million and delivering support in people’s homes and other community venues.

Ivan Ould, cabinet member for children and families, said: “People value their children’s centres - and we’ve always recognised that some people will be affected by the proposals. That’s why we’ve listened to what they have had to say and we are earmarking more money. We face significant funding challenges and merging ‘early help’ services enables us to bring down costs by reducing duplication. But we’re committed to helping families who need the most support. This extra investment offsets the government’s Troubled Families Fund we’re expecting to end, reducing the impact on vulnerable people.”